The Old South
by Angel Anastasia
Summary: The BAU team gets more than they ever imagined when they get a call to visit an old Southern town. warnings: language, violence, rape, ect. so read at your own discretion!
1. Chapter 1

_long time no see peoples haha. as if. with my other story slowly coming to a close, i decided to start another one. i dont know where this one is going, but its probably going to be as brutal as the last one. like, even in this opening chapter, its not pleasant. these characaters are something else so hope u like them. i know this chapter is super short, but i just wanted to see what u guys thought. enjoy xoxo_

Laura put the pot on the boiler and sat down in the chair by the stove. It would take forever for the water to boil, but she wanted to have dinner ready before the kids came home. She didn't even know what she would make. They didn't have much money, and her fool of husband wasn't man enough to support their family. It was up to her. She opened the cupboards, searching for anything that her hungry boys could eat, and she was delighted to find an old box of noodles in a deserted corner.

"Those boys are too old to be breast-feeding Laura!" Benjamin shouted at her. He was relaxing on the couch looking at the few channels they had to watch on the television. It was a turn off just to look at the old drunk. He was good for absolutely nothing.

"They'll stop when they want," Laura argued.

"Why the hell would they ever want to stop touching you? They're teenagers for God's sake!"

"They will stop when they are ready. Leave at that. You wanna eat or not tonight?" Laura threatened. "You keep yellin at me and I'll never get these noodles cooking!"

He crossed his arms over his chest and stared back at the TV. She couldn't figure out why she married that piece of trash in the first place. He was in a car accident a few years ago, and he claimed to be disabled even though he was perfectly fine at moving when he wanted to. She dumped the noodles into the boiling water, and started looking around the pantry for some tomato sauce.

"We have any of that red sauce left?" Laura tried asking Benjamin.

"How the hell should I know woman? Your place is in that kitchen. You should know."

"Go to hell!" Laura shouted.

"Already there woman, already there."

Laura turned around, and slammed her fist in the table when she heard the bell from town ring. The kids would be home soon, and the noodles weren't cooking. It wasn't possible for anyone to hate their life more than she did. She took out dishes from the sink, and slammed them on the table. She cut up some bread, and pulled some lunch meat from the refrigerator. They would be having sandwiches again that week. Just as she put the mayonnaise on the table, the front door opened. Her younger son, Daniel, dropped his backpack by the couch and walked in the kitchen.

"Where's Joseph?" she asked.

"He found some girl. He's in the barn with her now," Daniel said. He sat down at the table, and pulled one of the sandwiches toward him. "Do we have any cheese Ma?"

"I'll try to get to the store later this month," Laura said. "Benjamin, get over here now. I want to have a family dinner for once."

"What about your son? Huh?" Benjamin asked.

"He's your son too you ass! Just get over here and eat. I'll check on him after dinner." Laura sat down next to Daniel, and she waited for her husband to sit down before she folded her hands. "Dear Lord, bless this food that we are about to eat. Amen."

Benjamin and Daniel grabbed their food like savages, but Laura wasn't any better. Her stomach was growling like a mad dog. She stuffed the food into her mouth, but she was still curious to learn about her son's day at school. He was 15 years old, and that was the age when all of the fun stuff started happening in her life.

"So Daniel, how was school?"

"Fine Ma."

"Learn anything in one of your classes?" she asked.

"Nope. Done eating. I gotta book to read. See ya later," Daniel said. He grabbed his book bag, and disappeared into the bedroom.

"Think your son's a queer," Benjamin said laughing.

"One step better than you!" Laura said getting up from the table. "I'm goin check on Joseph."

"You better get back here and clean them dishes when your done!"

Laura didn't stop to see if he needed any help getting his fat ass back on the couch. She hated him more than anything. She put on a sweater, and walked out to the back of the house. The sun was setting fast, and the nights were chilly. Winter was always the hardest on their family. It cost so much money to heat that house, and she didn't have enough blankets to keep the beds warm. She heard a woman screaming from the old barn, but she didn't want to be a bother. She quietly opened the door, and saw her oldest son on top of a teenager. The girl was on her stomach, and her son looked like he was almost done with her. He had a handful of her hair in his fist, and the girl's body jolted with every one of his thrusts. She shut the door behind him, and stood by a pile of hay.

"Got sick of masturbating?" she asked smiling at her son. His pushing into the frightened girl got faster, but he didn't look up. The girl looked hopeful at Laura's presence, but Laura didn't come to look at her.

"It was gross with Daniel watchin me like that Ma. He offered to help me last time, and I don't roll that way."

"You almost done with her then?"

"Give me a minute," Joseph said. He pushed harder and faster into the girl, but the poor thing never stopped trying to get away.

"Please help me! Please!" she screamed.

"Where you goin put her?" Laura asked.

"Where Pa put the others," Joseph mumbled. He was flustered with all of the energy he was putting into his release so Laura turned away to let him finish.

"Tell me before ya go to bed then," Laura said. "I'll double check everythin out here for you. Just make sure you get all your bookwork done before mornin. Got it big boy?"

"Sure thing Ma," he replied.

Laura snuck back out of the barn, and shut the door behind her. The girl's screams were getting softer. She couldn't wait to tell Benjamin that their oldest finally lost his virginity. He would be so proud of Joseph. They had spent too many nights listening to their boys jerking off in their shared bedroom. It was time that Joseph finally got a woman. She would sleep well that night. She crawled into bed next to her husband, but not a word was spoken. She listened to the sounds of the night, and waited for Joseph to return home.

Her eyes opened when she heard their truck stop outside. Joseph turned off the engine, and in a few moments, he was inside. Laura rubbed the crusties she had out of her eyes, and sat up in the bed. Benjamin moaned beside her. Joseph creaked the door to the bedroom open, and crept over to their bed.

"Here Ma, got these for you," Joseph said. He handed her a pair of beautiful diamond stud earrings. They looked too pretty to even touch, but she grabbed them.

"You shouldn't have Joseph!"

"I knew you'd look pretty in them."

Laura put them in her ears with ease, and rubbed her fingers over the small stone in them. She didn't care if they were real or not. They were real to her, and that's all that mattered. She couldn't wait to wear them out.

"Thank you so much. You're a good boy," Laura said. She kissed him on the cheek and watched him glow with happiness.

"Girl didn't have on any other jewelry. I'll try harder next time."

"I'm sure you will sweetie. I'm sure you will. Good night."

* * *

><p>J.J. was tired from the night before, but work wouldn't wait. It seemed like she was getting more files than usual to look over, but Halloween just passed. She expected to get more tales about cults worshipping black cats or Satanists murdering virgins in the dark. It took a while to find a case that looked serious enough to even look at, but this one sent chills down her spine. She circled around her groggy team members to the front of the room. Rossi held a cup of coffee in his hand, and Prentiss was holding her head up with one of her hands. Morgan looked like he had been partying all night, and Reid could barely keep his eyes open. The only one who really looked awake was Reid, but J.J. wasn't convinced he wasn't sleepy at all from the holiday weekend.<p>

"What do we have?" Hotch asked.

"This one is from Tennessee. A girl from one of the high schools went missing about a week ago," J.J. said. She pulled up the picture of the missing girl on the screen. She hated to admit that the girl did look a lot like her with blonde hair and light eyes. "They found her body yesterday in a forest not far from her home."

"Why were we called in then? Sounds like an angry boyfriend to me," Morgan complained. J.J. put the picture of the girl's body on the screen, and watched Morgan suddenly wake up.

"Her face was ripped off," J.J. said.

"Oh my God," Prentiss said.

"Most of her hair was torn from her scalp, one of her eyes is missing, and she was found naked in a shallow grave, but this isn't the worst part." J.J. added another picture to the screen, and waited for the team to take in what they were actually seeing. "There were twelve other bodies found at the location. They are all young women, but they haven't been identified yet."

"Do they know what killed the student?" Reid asked.

"They are doing an autopsy, but it looks like her throat was slit."

"All of that was overkill then?" Rossi asked.

"Seems like it," J.J. said. "They don't even know if all of these women are from their town. The police just started going back to missing person reports, but they don't have that many on women in this age group."

"Are the other bodies in the same condition?" Hotch asked.

"Audrey Campbell was the only one who got her face ripped off. The other women had deep slashes in their faces, but they could be identified easily by family members. All of them were found naked in that same shallow grave."

"The unsub is confident then," Rossi concluded. "He didn't bother trying to hide the bodies because he doesn't think he will be caught."

"It doesn't look like he spends that much time with them," Reid pointed out. "Her body is already decaying. It looks like she was out there for days."

"He's going to have to find a new burial ground though," Morgan said. "If the last girl went missing only a week ago, it won't be long before he has to go looking again.

"We're leaving in 10 everyone," Hotch said. He gathered up his paperwork, and left with Rossi at his tail. Prentiss yawned loudly, and J.J. worked on getting all of his papers together.

"Think I can sleep on the plane?" Prentiss asked.

"It only takes 7 minutes for the average person to fall asleep, but considering that you will be on a plane that will take us," Reid started.

"Stop," Morgan said. "It's too early for your statistic stuff now. Just give it a rest."

"You'll probably put her to sleep just by talking," J.J. added. Reid looked hurt by her statement, but he didn't speak up. She probably needed to sleep on the plane as well. She didn't know what they would find when they landed, but she was going to find out.

_dun dun dun! so um PLEASE REVIEW to let me know your thoughts. let me know if i should continue or not. if i do say so myself, i think laura and her sons are pretty interesting characters. oh, and the review button is right under these words...so make it happy and click it =)_


	2. Chapter 2

_hi peoples. sorry for the super long delay in getting this chapter up. i was kinda surprised by all of the positive feedback for it so i had nothing else planned lol. i have more bad guys to work with than my last story so it was harder to write. i will have to say that these characters r pretty messed up people. try not to feel sympathy for any of them lol_

Prentiss was more tired that she thought. She knew she shouldn't have gone to that party last night, but Halloween does only come once a year. She settled down on one of the comfy chairs in the plane, and poured coffee down her throat. She could fall asleep on the spot if she wanted to, but she needed to stay awake. She couldn't believe the condition of the poor girl's face. She didn't even look human anymore.

"So how old was the oldest victim?" Prentiss asked. She flipped through the images in her file, but she had to stop looking. It was a gruesome sight. All of the bodies looked to be Caucasian, but it was hard to tell with the extensive decay done of some of the corpses. All of them had different hair colors, and they didn't seem to have similar body types. At first glance, it looked like the only thing the women had in common was that they were female.

"They don't know yet," J.J. said. "They're still doing the autopsies."

"But it does look like the unsub has gotten more violent," Morgan said. "None of the bodies look as bad as Audrey's does."

"How do we know that there is only one unsub? I can't really tell from the photos, but it almost looks like different knives were used," Reid pointed out. "It looks something jagged was used on Audrey, but the rest have cleaner cuts. They look more precise."

"He's right," Rossi said.

"Do we know if any of the girls were raped?" Morgan asked.

"Audrey was," J.J. said. "We don't know about the others yet."

"So our unsub kidnaps the girls, tortures and murders them. He dumps their bodies in a forest without bothering to really hide them," Morgan said. "Why did it take so long for them to tell us about this? There's 13 bodies!"

"This is why the sheriff doesn't think the girls are from the town. They only found the bodies because they were searching for Audrey," J.J. said.

"He must have known his first victim," Reid commented. "If we can find out who she was, it will be easier to find the unsub. It looks like he is escalating though. The killings look closer together. He will probably be looking for his next victim soon."

"So that could potentially be any young woman in the town?" Prentiss asked. "He might be getting more daring by taking a girl from the town. He knew that people would be looking for her, but he didn't care because he's not afraid of getting caught."

"Unless that was the second unsub," Rossi said. "If Audrey is the only girl who went missing from the town, maybe that's because the second unsub didn't know what he was doing."

"That doesn't really sound comforting," Prentiss said.

"So we have a possibility of having two unsubs with sadistic personalities," Hotch concluded. "Prentiss, you can go with J.J. to talk to Audrey's parents. Reid and Rossi, go to the morgue to look at the bodies. I'll go with Morgan to the site where they were found."

It was freezing when they finally got off the plane. A storm was looming overhead, and Prentiss regretted not dressing warmer. She prayed that it didn't start raining. She noticed that none of the team was really dressed for the cold weather. Morgan looked proud to be sporting a thin tee shirt, but everyone looked rather cold. Reid had his arms wrapped his chest, and J.J. was buttoning up her jacket. Prentiss had the heater on the car while they drove to the Campbell's house. Prentiss knew that J.J. always seemed to tense up when there a case involving young women, and this one was no different. J.J. wasn't as talkative as she usually was.

"What do you think cutting off their faces symbolizes?" Prentiss asked her.

"Dehumanizing them? Humiliation maybe? Why does it have to be cold outside?"

"Winter is sure coming fast this year," Prentiss said agreeing. "Looks like this is the house." She parked the car in front, and it looked like a normal house. It was two stories high, but it was in a middle class neighborhood. The grass needed to be mowed, and there were several bikes tied up by the front door. Prentiss imagined one of those bikes belonging to Audrey. She was only 16 years old when she was murdered. It made Prentiss sick. J.J. rung the doorbell, and Prentiss took the time to look around at the surrounding houses. There were a few younger kids playing outside, but it was relatively quiet. A woman with stringy blonde hair and a red face answered the door. She held a Kleenex in one of her hands, and it didn't look like she didn't dress herself when she woke up that morning. She was wearing an old white robe with slippers on her feet.

"Yes?" she bluntly asked.

"Hi, Mrs. Campbell?" J.J. asked.

"What do you want?"

"Hi, we're from the FBI. I'm Agent Prentiss," Prentiss told her.

"And you can call me J.J.," J.J. added. "We came to talk to you about Audrey if that is alright with you."

"Fine, come in," the woman told them. Prentiss kept close behind J.J. as they entered the house. There were a few dolls at the bottom of the staircase, and the carpet needed to be badly vacuumed. However dirty it was, it did have a homey feel to it. There were pictures of Audrey on the walls, and Prentiss saw some Halloween decorations stills set out. Two younger girls were staring at them from the top of the staircase, but they never said a word. Mrs. Campbell led them into the living room, and they sat down on the couch.

"Did you need a drink or anything?" she asked them.

"No, we're fine," J.J. answered.

"Okay, just let me find my husband," Mrs. Campbell said. She left the room, and Prentiss was starting to feel her fingers again from the warmth of the house. Hot chocolate did sound really good right then.

"So Audrey had two little sisters?" Prentiss asked J.J.

"Yeah," J.J. said. "One of them is 12 years old and the other one is 8."

Mrs. Campbell returned promptly with a coffee mug in her hand. Her husband didn't look any better than she did. He didn't look like he had slept in days. His light brown hair wasn't brushed, and the clothes he was wearing didn't look clean. Prentiss hated what unsubs did to the victims' families. Most of the time, the families were forgotten about in the chaos, but they were suffering too. This family was grieving the lost of their first born child. Prentiss could tell by the photographs how well loved Audrey was, and her parents had to live with the fact that she was never coming home again.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," J.J. began. "I know that this is a very difficult time for you. She looked like a really sweet girl."

"She was my little princess," Mr. Campbell quietly said. "She loved her sisters, and her teachers always said she was doing such good work at school."

"Can you think of anyone who would want to do this to her?" Prentiss asked.

"I don't know," Mrs. Campbell said. "She didn't have that many friends. It's a smaller town, and so I knew all of her friends. They've been sending us flowers." Mrs. Campbell wiped her wet eyes with her tissue.

"Can we see her room?" J.J. asked.

"Of course," Mrs. Campbell said getting up. "This way."

Prentiss and J.J. followed the grieving mother up the stairs, but Mr. Campbell stayed behind. His face was covered up by his hands, and Prentiss could hear his cries all the upstairs. Mrs. Campbell took them into one of the first rooms, and stood by the door so the agents could look inside. The room had pink walls with pictures of celebrities taped to the walls. Stuffed animals sat on top of an unmade bed, and a pink dog bed was in the corner of the room. Audrey was just a normal teenager who had a huge crush on Johnny Depp it looked like. He was the star featured most on her walls.

"She was looking forward to prom in the spring," Mrs. Campbell choked out. "She was already looking at the dresses. She wanted a pink one. It was her favorite color, and now…" The poor woman couldn't finish the sentence.

"Did Audrey say why she was going to stay late at school that day?" J.J. asked.

"She was just going to talk to a teacher about a project," she said. "She never partied or had wild friends or anything. She always came home right after school, just not this time. When she didn't come home by dinner time, I was calling her and her dad went by the school to pick her up but she wasn't there. She wasn't anywhere. He drove around looking for her all night, and he went to the forest with the police to look for her."

Prentiss picked up a picture of Audrey with her little sisters that was on her desk. She was hugging them close to her. She felt terrible for the little girls.

"Was he the one who found her?" Prentiss asked.

"He wasn't the person who found the girls," Mrs. Campbell said. "He was in the same area though, and when he heard that the officers found something, he ran to see….he hasn't been the same since. Her face…I shouldn't have allowed her to stay after school. If I made her come right home or if I picked her up sooner, my baby would still be here. She needed me and I wasn't there. Oh my God, I wasn't there!"

J.J. walked over to the woman as the tears poured down her face. Mrs. Campbell didn't seem to even notice J.J. hugging her. It was heartbreaking.

"It's not your fault Mrs. Campbell. You didn't know," J.J. said softly.

"I never got to say goodbye…my poor little girl…I never said goodbye," she cried out.

"It's okay mommy," a little voice said. J.J. noticed the younger of the two daughters step out from the hallway. She wrapped her arms around her mother's waist. The little girl was a spitting image of her sister. "Don't cry mommy."

Mrs. Campbell turned around, and picked her daughter up off the ground. Prentiss went to stand by J.J. while the mother wiped off her tears. Prentiss wished that they knew about the case before Audrey was taken. They could have saved an entire family. Christmas wasn't that far off, and they had to find a way to move on without Audrey. Prentiss was thankful that the parents had two other children to live for. The children would keep them grounded.

They followed Mrs. Campbell and her daughter back downstairs. J.J. buttoned her jacket back up, and Prentiss slipped some gloves over her hands. She was happy to be getting out of that house. Mr. Campbell was still sitting by himself on the couch, and the older daughter was nowhere to be seen.

"Thank you for your time," J.J. told them. The father didn't acknowledge her, but the mother smiled kindly.

"Please don't let this happen to another girl," Mrs. Campbell told them as they stepped back outside. "No parent should have to bury their child."

* * *

><p>Joseph turned around in his bed, and stared up at the ceiling. Daniel was doing homework, or pretending to, but Joseph wasn't in the mood for that. He could still feel his heart pounding when he rammed into that girl, and he loved all the kids at school looking for her. He had a secret that no one else knew, and that felt like he was God. He needed to do it again. He wanted another girl for his own. He would have gotten another one sooner, but his Pa yelled at him for grabbing one from town. The bitches his Pa brought home weren't from there. They weren't missed, and Pa could play with them all he wanted. Joseph grew up watching the random sluts his dad brought home, but he knew that he was old enough to do it too. His mother wore the pretty earrings that Joseph got her every day. His father never got her gifts.<p>

"I need to get another girl," Joseph told Daniel. "You need to help me."

"Why don't you ask Pa then?"

"You gay or something?" Joseph asked him. Joseph stood up, and looked over at his younger brother. His brother never was like him.

"What? No!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Whatever you say bro," Joseph said. He hated sharing a room with Daniel. His brother was a freak, and he really did stare at Joseph whenever he masturbated. It was gross.

"Boys, come out here please!" their mother called from the other room. Joseph didn't wait for his brother before he went out to the family room. His lazy ass dad was still on the couch with his feet propped up, but his mother was standing beside him. Joseph really did love his mother, and she deserved the best of stuff. She had to put up with their father, and she still tried to make sure the boys grew up in a normal home. He couldn't have gotten a better mother. Joseph didn't sit down. He didn't want to be near his dad. Daniel sat down on a footstool when he finally got there.

"Get most your homework done boys?" she asked pleasantly.

"Yeah," Joseph said answering for both of them. Daniel didn't say anything, but that was normal. He knew how to keep his mouth shut.

"Well, after that little problem from last week, your Pa agreed to take you out," she told them. "He'll show you how to get a girl, and how to bring her back home with no problems."

"Yeah, cuz your horny little ass got my hidin spot ruined," Pa mumbled. "Gotta find a new one now cuzza you. You and your brother are goin help me find a better spot, and I'll show both of ya how to properly get a girl."

"Fine," Joseph said. "Go ahead. Teach me old man." Joseph smiled while his Pa got up, and wrapped himself in a coat.

"Should I set an extra place at the table?" their mother asked.

"Yeah, sure. I wouldn't put much food on it though. I don't think the girl will be hungry," Joseph said. Their mother smiled, and went back into the kitchen.

Joseph noticed the man wasn't limping at all from his "accident", and that he was standing up straight. There was no reason why this man couldn't go back to work. He just wanted to get free money from disability like a jerk. Joseph and Daniel followed their father out of the house, but he walked right past their old truck.

"Dad, the truck is here," Daniel called out.

"Need to show you boys something else. Get over here!" he yelled at them. Joseph followed him, but he stayed at his own distance. He really didn't want to be seen walking with his Dad. People might think he was white trash too. They followed him into the woods, and Joseph stuck his hands in his pocket to keep them warm. The sun was starting to set, and it got to near freezing on some nights in the forest. He loved the trees though. He loved being surrounded by nature. No one could hear the girls scream.

"Think Dad is still mad?" Daniel whispered.

"What the hell does it matter what he thinks? He's an asshole."

"You shouldn't have killed Audrey," Daniel said. "She was nice to me in school."

"Wanna know something Danny?" Joseph said stopping. Daniel looked at the direction their Dad was heading, but he stopped too.

"What?"

"Audrey's last words were "mommy". Can you believe that? What a little baby!" Joseph said laughing. He tried to high five Daniel, but Daniel never lifted his hand. Daniel turned out and kept walking. In fact, he sped up his pace to get closer to their father. He was a little dumb ass for sure. Joseph hated being related to any of the men in his family. They finally caught up to their dad on top of a smaller hill. Daniel leaned on a tree to catch his breath, but Joseph walked right up his dad to see what they were supposed to be looking at.

On the forest floor below was construction tape tied to the trees, and busy men working their shovels into the dirt. Joseph knew that was the burial site. He knew that was where he dumped that girl's body after he was done with her. He couldn't wait to do it again. He saw a whole bunch of cops walking around and talking to each other, and he watched the sheriff looking under white sheets that covered up the bodies. The funny thing was he recognized every single person down there. That proved what a shit ass town he lived in. Nobody cared enough to even come visit when a bunch of women get murdered.

"So what am I supposed to be lookin at Daddy dearest?" Joseph asked with a smirk.

"Those men," Daniel said pointing. Joseph followed the point down to two men who were not familiar. One of them was pale with black hair. He was wearing a suit in the forest for God knew why. The other was a dark guy wearing a tee shirt. It was obvious neither one of them were from this town. They were both talking to the sheriff.

"Who the fuck are they?"

"F…B…I….genius," Pa said. "I thought they taught you kids something in that damned school. Just proved me otherwise. You got the FBI involved. Hope your happy kid."

"What does this mean?" Daniel asked.

"Gotta be more careful now with who we pick or we're goin have to have a nice little chat with some of these agents."

"There's only two of them Dad. Can't be that hard to take out," Joseph argued.

"There's more than two of them. They tend to travel in packs. The rest of them are somewhere else, but we'll find them all if they get in the way. Wouldn't it be a shame if that nice looking one in the suit got his fancy tie all bloody?"

Joseph smiled at his dad, and his dad high fived him. It was times like these that made Joseph appreciate the father-son bonding relationship. He needed to spend more time with his dad. They had a lot more in common than he thought before. He couldn't wait to see the lady his dad was going pick out. Maybe Daniel would join in with the fun if she was hot.

* * *

><p>Morgan really regretted partying the whole night before. He had a hangover that morning, and the kid spilling out statistics on the plane wasn't helping. The hike into the forest was getting his blood flowing though. The cold air was freezing his face, but at least he didn't feel like falling asleep anymore.<p>

"I sure hope I didn't call you people out here for nothing," Sheriff Bill told them. "We didn't know what to do. I haven't seen anything like this before."

"You probably should have called us sooner if there are 13 bodies," Morgan told him. He walked over to the burial site, and looked down into the deep hole.

"There's 16 bodies now," Bill said. "We've been digging up more. I mean, we were going to stop when one of my men spotted something else."

"Sixteen bodies?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, we've found some men now too," Bill said. He led them to over to the bodies covered with the white cloths, and Morgan bent down to look at them. He uncovered the last sheet, and saw the face of a young man. His face, like the others, was badly decomposed and slashed in several places. Morgan uncovered the cloth of the person next to him and saw a woman about the man's age. "We think those two were married," Bill commented.

"Why is that?" Hotch asked.

"They both have rings on their fingers, and their bodies were found together. I think one of them was still alive when they were left here. They were holding hands."

Morgan covered both of their faces back up. He was sure that when they got married for better worse, they never imagined something like this would happen. There wasn't that much comfort knowing that they died together.

"Do you have any idea if there are more bodies buried here?" Morgan asked.

"I have no idea, but I'm going to have my men continue to search. I don't want anybody left behind. Everyone deserves to get buried with dignity," Bill said. "Maybe the killer is from out of town. I know the people here. Most of them were born and raised here, and they've been here for generations. None of them are killers."

"We're still learning about the unsub," Hotch said.

"He probably does live around here. It wasn't easy to get to this location," Morgan said. "He knew about this ditch, and he knew that most people don't come out here so the bodies wouldn't be found. That's probably why he didn't bother covering them up."

"And he's been doing this for years," Hotch said circling around the ditch. "He's been perfecting this over time. He knows which women will not be missed which is why I really think the last murder was by a different unsub. Her disappearance was noticed immediately. That doesn't fit the profile. Most of the skin was torn off her face which is much worse than the other bodies found. There is either a copy cat killer or the unsub is getting an accomplice."

"And if the guy does have an accomplice, they'll probably be looking for another girl again soon," Morgan added.

"Should I be warning the girls in the town and the guys?" Bill asked.

"I think the guys were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Morgan told him. The grave was full of women. Women were the real targets.

"But the men's bodies were found in the same condition as the women," Bill said.

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked.

"I could be wrong on this, I'm no doctor, but it looks like the men were violated too," Bill said.

Morgan looked back at the bodies and then at Hotch. It would make sense if the unsub was interested in dominance. They needed to find out exactly who the victims were. They wouldn't be able to go much further unless they knew what the unsub was hunting for.

* * *

><p>Reid never liked being in morgues. Death never really bothered him, but he'd rather not be an enclosed space surrounded by corpses. He never really liked small spaces since the incident with Morgan in the elevator. Prentiss still teased Morgan about that. She wasn't going to let him forget which was amusing because she wasn't even there. It was starting to sprinkle outside so Reid was grateful to get out of the coming storm. He followed behind Rossi to where the bodies were being kept, and it looked like there was barely enough room for all of them.<p>

"I've been doing this for 30 years, and I've never seen anything like this, gentlemen. We are a small town. There's only myself and an assistant working here, and she has the day off. I'm overwhelmed," the doctor explained.

"Can you tell us how they died?" Rossi asked. Reid walked around, and looked at the faces of the bodies that were uncovered. Their faces were scarred with deep gashes, but none of them seemed as bad as Audrey.

"Well, most of them were killed with a cut to the throat," the doctor began. He directed them to a body at the end of the row, and he uncovered the face. It was hard to guess her age because of the decomposition, but she didn't look that old. "But this girl was stabbed 11 times, 2 of her fingers are broken, and so is her left wrist. My guess is that she fought back, and that she put up one hell of a fight."

"Do you have an age range of the girls?" Reid asked. The doctor covered the girl's face back up, and went over to the other bodies that were still uncovered.

"It is hard to tell. The elements have not been kind to their bodies, and some of the bodies are over 10 years old…I'd say that the oldest one I have here is in her 30s, and the youngest one was still in her teens."

"The oldest one you have here?" Rossi asked.

"Yes, they're still digging up bodies in that damned forest," the doctor said. "I don't know how many there are."

"Were all of them sexually assaulted?" Rossi asked. He walked near the door, and Reid guessed he didn't want to look at the bodies. It was hard to look at. Reid just couldn't tell if two unsubs were really involved. He walked over to the body he recognized as Audrey's, and looked closer at what used to be her face.

"All of them were…some more than once, but none of them were alive for that long after they were abducted."

"Can you tell if the same kind of weapon was used on Audrey as the rest of them?" Reid asked.

"I don't think it was," the doctor said coming over to Reid. "If you look closely, you can tell the edges of the knife used were sharp and precise. That is not the same case with the others. Also, her skull caved in from another instrument. I'm guessing a crow bar of some kind. A lot more work was done to Audrey than the other victims." The skin was completely off Audrey's face. The pictures that J.J. showed them earlier couldn't prepare him for what he was looking at. One her eyes was missing and most of her hair was ripped off her head. Reid had to look away after a few minutes.

"I'll call Hotch to tell him what we found," Rossi said using that as an excuse to leave the room.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do," the doctor said quietly. "I don't recognize any of the girls except for Audrey. They aren't from this town."

_and so this was chapter 2. yay! lemme know what u guys think by clicking on that beautiful review button. letting me know ur thoughts give me ideas on what direction to go with the story. i know that its tempting to ignore the review button and move on2 another story, but the button needs love. its lonely down there xoxo_


	3. Chapter 3

_look how good i've been today! i updated both of my stories. i deserve a cookie. who will be bringing me this well deserved cookie? so um, on with the story. um, my warnings stand true with this chapter. theres no rape, but there r mentions of it. lots of language. these characters scare me more than the unsub in my first story, harold. it might b cuz its a whole family and every single one of them is messed up. keep ur eye out for daniel. hes not doing much right now, but i personally think hes the scariest of all. watch out for the quiet ones haha. so um, ya. heres chapter 3:_

Benjamin loaded both of his boys into the old truck after he made sure that both of them knew they needed to be more careful with how they disposed the bodies. They still needed to find a new dumping ground, but that wouldn't be too hard. The forest stretched on for miles. He needed to teach his boys how to actually get a woman. He remembered he was about their age when he got his first girl. Laura was with him, and she actually helped him subdue the girl. She had been helping him ever since. There would be no way in hell that he could do all of it on his own. He was happy that he was finally teaching his sons.

"Dad, we've been driving forever and I'm hungry," Joseph complained.

"You wanna get a girl, don't ya?" Benjamin asked his older son.

"Yeah, and it seems like I got Audrey in like a few minutes. We've been driving for a whole damned hour dad."

"And you got the FBI visiting us now. Freakin idiot. In all my days, I never once called attention to myself," Benjamin said parking the old truck. "You gotta get out here on these side roads, and make sure it's not too close to town. That's how you don't get caught. You never get somebody from the town, ever. Got it wise guy?"

"Whatever," Joseph said.

"Don't you whatever me boy! Got it?" Benjamin said raising his voice.

"I got it!" Joseph yelled back.

"You take the truck out, and you wait. And if you get a chick from one location, you have to go to another road next time. How do you feel about getting men?"

"I'm not queer dad, not sure about Daniel over there, but I'm not," Joseph said.

"Stop it," Daniel said quietly.

"Both of you shut up," Benjamin said. "It's not about being queer. I guess it can be to uneducated folks, but not us. I only take the guys if they are with the girls I want or if there's no woman inside and I got my urges, but do you know how much the guy screams when you get on top of him? They don't see it coming. They think they are such big, strong dudes and that just brings them down a notch. They all die the same way though. Once your done with the rape, slit their throats. It's quick and easy. I cut up their faces so it's harder to identify them. We good?"

"But what if I want to keep the bodies?" Daniel asked slowly.

Benjamin and Joseph both turned to stare at Daniel. He was still looking out the window, and he was fiddling nervously with his fingers. Benjamin really hoped he didn't have a nutty kid.

"Why in the world would you wanna do that? They start stinking soon," Benjamin told him. Daniel looked away. Daniel would probably come around after they got the girl home. He would see how fun it really was. "Ok, what we do is we sit on the side of the road and pretend the truck broke down. The idiot woman stops her car to help, and that's that."

"What if it's two people?" Joseph asked.

"Yer ma usually helped me. She's a lot tougher than you kids think. You never saw her in action yet. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised," Benjamin said.

"I don't wanna share this girl with you old man!" Joseph argued. "If I help, I get her to myself. I don't wanna get some std from you!"

"Then we're not doin this till there's two people in the car, and besides, you needa help your brother," Joseph shouted. He couldn't believe he had to put up with these ungrateful brats.

"Help him with what dad? He's not mentally retarded. He gets better grades than me. He's just a freakin weirdo!"

"You guys, there's a car comin," Daniel said to them. Benjamin turned away from Joseph, and saw a little blue car was indeed coming their way. There were two people in the car, and to his luck, one was a woman.

"Okay, you two ready? This is it. Remember the plan," Benjamin told his boys.

* * *

><p>"Are we going to be there before the sun sets?" Maggie asked. She leaned against Mason, but made sure she wasn't going to distract him from the road. They had been driving all day, and she knew he was just as tired as he was.<p>

"I think so," Mason told her. "We're making good time."

"Your grandma is such a sweet lady for inviting us to stay with her for a week," Maggie told him. "It's beautiful out here, isn't it? I want to go hiking in that forest someday."

"That forest is pretty amazing," Mason said. "Me and my brother used to hide out in there when we got in trouble or something. You would love it."

"Maybe we can go tomorrow if we make it?" Maggie asked.

"We'll almost there, and you just got food a while back. Are you hungry again?"

"It's a possibility," Maggie said smiling. She kissed her boyfriend on the cheek, and settled back down in her chair. They were going to be finishing their first year of college that spring, and they were planning to move in together that summer.

"Girls are always hungry, not guys. The statistics got it all wrong!" Mason joked.

"Hey, what's that up ahead? Did somebody's car break down?" Maggie asked sitting back up. She saw some truck sitting on the side of the road with people standing around it.

"Looks like it," Mason said.

"Well, are you going to stop and see if they need help? It's freezing outside, and those kids look younger than us!" Maggie exclaimed.

"I don't know this area," Mason said.

"But you're good with cars," Maggie argued back. She leaned toward him, and nuzzled her nose against his ear. "Wouldn't you want somebody to offer me a working phone if I was trapped on the road? It's still sunny outside. It's not like your pulling over towards a creepy big guy wearing overalls. They look like high school kids with their dad."

"Fine, fine," Mason said breaking the car. "But you owe me later!"

"I'm sure they are thrilled that somebody cares enough to see if they need help," Maggie said.

She took off her seat belt when Mason parked the car, and wrapped a shawl around her. The cold was already messing with her nose before she opened the door. She stayed close to Mason's car while he went to the family to see if they needed help. She didn't need to follow him. She watched the father take Mason over to the hood of the car, and Maggie pulled out her phone to check for any new text messages. She had no internet access, but her phone was still working.

She leaned against the car while she replied to her mother who was asking her if the trip was alright. It took forever to teach her mom how to text, but now her mother sent her a text every few minutes. She guessed it was better than her calling every other minute. She assured her mother that everything was going as planned, and she sent the message when she heard a loud banging noise. She looked up, but she didn't see her boyfriend anywhere.

"Grab her!" one of the guys yelled.

Maggie dropped her phone, and ran as fast as she could into the forest. She didn't even know where she was going or why she running, but she wanted to get away from those guys. What happened to Mason? She didn't hear him calling her, but something had to have happened. He wasn't there anymore. She hid behind a tree to catch her breath. She was an asthmatic, and she left in her inhaler in the car. She wasn't planning on running when she told Mason to help those people.

She saw the kid come up, but she couldn't catch her breath. All she could do was scream when he wrapped him arms around her. She needed her inhaler. He brought her out of the forest, and she saw the father of the boys putting Mason in their truck.

"Hey look dad," the other boy shouted. "Daniel found her!"

"Please," she whispered to the kid holding her. "I need my inhaler. I can't breathe. It's in the car."

To her dismay, he didn't say a single word. In fact, he brought her closer to the rest of his crazy family. The other kid was holding a bat with both of his hands. Maggie's heart pounded against her chest, and she was getting dizzy from not getting enough air.

"Hold her against their car," the boy instructed the one holding her.

"Please," she said louder. "I have asthma. I can't breathe!"

She didn't see the other boy raise the bat above her head. If she did, she would have been struggling harder and louder to get away. From where she was, she could see the inhaler sitting Mason's car. She was about to tell them when she felt a large object hitting the back of her head. Her world went black before she could register what happened.

* * *

><p>Hotch met with the rest of the team back at the station. All of them needed to warm up, and he wanted to go over everything they found before resting for the night. Morgan and him were the last ones to get there. Reid was already scribbling notes on the whiteboard, and J.J. was sipping on some coffee. Hotch would have to grab one of those before he left.<p>

"Okay, so what do we have everybody?" Hotch asked.

"They're up to 20 bodies now," Morgan commented. "Four of them are males, and their bodies are in the same condition as the females."

"The bodies can be traced back 10 years," Reid added.

"And as of now, the only victim that can be traced to the town is Audrey," Rossi said.

"Audrey was a good kid," J.J. said. "She was raised in this town, and her parents knew all of her friends."

"Her body was in the worst shape," Rossi said. "All of the victims had torn up faces, but hers was by far the worst."

"So the cutting of the faces is a definite of this unsub?" Hotch asked.

"Seems like it," Prentiss said. "The unsub would need to be in good physical shape to be able to kidnap the victims, and his target is the women."

"Yeah," Morgan said stretching. "The guys were all near the women. Either they were in a relationship with the woman, or they were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Did it look like they were going to find more bodies?" J.J. asked.

"It's hard to say," Morgan replied. "We'll find out soon."

"But you guys think the unsub lives in this town?" Reid asked.

"He dumps the bodies here, and he doesn't keep his victims for that long after he takes them," Hotch said. "My guess would be yes. He knows this area well. He gets the victim, brings them here and kills them, and then dumps their bodies. Audrey was the only one not taken from another town."

"So there's two unsubs?" Prentiss asked.

"Different knives were used on Audrey than the other victims, and hers was a definite overkill. Her body was treated rougher than the others. I think another person killed her, but it's hard to say anything conclusive because the other bodies were badly decomposed. Bodies won't last that long buried in that condition," Reid said.

"Do you think the unsubs know each other? Maybe they're related?"

"Yeah, the second guy knew where all the bodies were hidden," Rossi said.

"Do you think it could be a wife?" Morgan asked. "A husband teaching a wife?"

"No, I think it's two men," Prentiss said. "Maybe it's two neighbors or brothers?"

"Okay guys," Hotch said. "Let's get some rest for tonight. It's been a long day, and I want to talk to some more people in the town before we get a profile down."

The rest of the team mumbled in agreement, and Hotch watched them get up to walk across the street to the town's hotel. They were lucky enough to get their own rooms, and Hotch couldn't wait to get into a hot shower. Hotch was good at keeping a stone face, but he had never seen bodies in such bad condition. It was bad enough that they were in different stages of decomposition, but their faces were also brutally torn off. It was enough to make him not think of having any dinner that night.

He looked at the picture of Audrey that Reid taped to their whiteboard. She was a very pretty girl, and she had so many hopes and dreams for her future. He couldn't wait to catch the men who took her life away from her.

* * *

><p>Laura smiled gently at her two boys. Joseph had his chair pulled up next to his pretty young guest. Laura wished that the boys got their new friend's names, but they would learn them soon enough. Daniel sat across from Joseph at the table. Laura set the table with forks by their shiny plates. Dinner would be delicious that night.<p>

"Ma, did you have to take that guy's shirt off?" Joseph asked.

Laura walked over to the young man they tied to a chair. She ran her hands up his firm chest, and didn't deny herself a chance to rub her fingers over his nipples. It had been so long since she saw abs like his. His hair was dark brown, and his lean chest was enough to make her think that she had died and gone straight to heaven.

"Isn't he just perfect?" she told her boys. "I want to play with this one. It's been so long since your Pa brought me home one. I bet you, if we take off that gag, he'll have all his teeth!"

"I'm hungry," Daniel complained.

"We're not eating till your dad gets home. Got it?"

"What's he doing anyway?" Joseph asked.

Laura got out one of her steak knives, and dragged it delicately across the boy's chest. He moved a little in his sleep, but he didn't wake up. It wouldn't be long though. They had been out for hours while her and her boys worked hard to make sure they wouldn't be doing anywhere when they did wake up.

"He's gotta get rid of their car," Laura said. She stopped the knife at the boy's nipple.

"How's he doing that?" Joseph asked.

"Crashing it into a tree. He's been doing it for years," Laura said. "He'll be home any minute. What's that inhaler thing on the table?"

"The girl kept complaining that she couldn't breathe. Guess she has asthma or something like that and your husband insisted we bring it with us," Joseph told her.

"Good idea unless you want her to die of an asthma attack before you have a chance to play with her," Laura commented.

Laura circled the nipple with her knife, but she didn't stab him. She lowered the knife to his bellybutton, and pressed the knife slowly down on the skin underneath it. She saw a thin line of blood form underneath the blade, and she giggled with delight.

"You're kinda freakin me out mom," Joseph said.

"Then mind your own business!" Laura snapped at him. She was about to cut her new boy toy again when she heard the truck's engine outside. "Pa's home. Okay, everyone sit down!"

She passed the spaghetti bowl around while Benjamin got himself seated at the table. Her boys dug in even before everyone had gotten the bowl. She knew how hungry they must be after such a long adventure. She looked again at the unconscious boy next to her before she took a big bite of the dinner she made.

Maggie woke up slowly. She could barely control her eyes. They kept opening and closing on their own, but her head hurt so badly. She noticed that the sun was down outside. Where was she? Her eyes felt so heavy, but something was wrong. She saw her inhaler sitting in front of her on a table that she didn't recognize. She smelled spaghetti, and she heard strange voices talking all around her. She forced her eyes all the way open, and saw the boys from the road earlier. She tried moving instantly, but her arms were tied behind her back. Her legs were bound to the legs of a chair, and she had a cloth gag in her mouth.

She screamed, and struggled to get her arms free. Who were these people? She saw Mason on the other side of the table, and he was in a condition similar to her but his shirt was off. It wasn't exactly warm in this place, and Mason had his shirt off. He was still recovering from a cold. He needed to have his clothes on.

"Oh boys look," the woman said sweetly. "She's awake."

"Can I take her in my room now?" one of them asked.

"Not till you finish all your dinner. I still see your veggies on your plate."

"I hate vegetables," the boy grumbled.

What the hell was this place? She screamed again, and struggled with her binds, but no one seemed to notice her. The entire family went on eating like nothing was happening. Was she still really unconscious? Had Mason crashed somewhere and this was all a delusion of some kind?

"We'll remove your gag sweetie if you want to talk to us," the woman said. Maggie saw the woman was missing several teeth, and the horrible smell in the room had to be coming from their unwashed bodies. No matter how horrible they seemed, talking seemed like the best solution. She could talk her way out of this. This was probably some horrible misunderstanding. Maggie nodded her head, and contained her will to scream louder than ever.

"Lower her gag Daniel," the woman said.

The quiet boy sitting near her pulled the gag down around her neck, and sat back down to finish his meal. That was the same boy who found her in the forest. She remembered him.

"What's your name dear?"

"Maggie," she said with a trembling voice. "Who are you?"

"Just call me Ma," the woman replied. "This is Pa, and these are our sons: Joseph and Daniel. Little Daniel is kinda shy so bear with him. Are you hungry Maggie?"

Maggie shook her head. Thinking about food made her want to vomit.

"Is this your brother?" the woman who called herself Ma asked.

"No, he's my boyfriend," Maggie said cautiously. "His name is Mason."

"Oh, I do like that name," Ma said quickly. She put one of her hands underneath the table where Mason was sitting. The older woman giggled to herself, and Maggie felt herself go pale.

"We were going to visit his grandma," Maggie continued. "He had a cold last week, but we wanted to spend Thanksgiving with her so she wouldn't be alone."

"Ma, I finished my dinner. Look!" the louder brother shouted.

"Hold on Joseph, we're having a conversation," Ma said loudly. "That's very sweet of you to go visit an old lady for the holidays."

Maggie felt a tear fall down her cheek. She was talking to this woman, but the woman wasn't telling her creepy sons to undo their restraints. She wasn't offering them a phone to use. She didn't try to put Mason's shirt back on. In fact, Maggie thought the strange woman was actually touching her boyfriend from under the table.

"And I have asthma, but I see you brought my inhaler," Maggie said. She was trying to draw the conversation out as long as possible, but she noticed everyone was finishing their meal.

"One of my cousins has asthma. That's a nasty little problem, isn't it?" Ma asked.

Maggie was trying to think of a reply or a question or anything to keep them busy when they all noticed Mason waking up. His eyes were fluttering open and shut just like Maggie's were, but he was playing with his restraints before he was even fully awake.

"Why, hello Mason!" Ma shouted in his face.

Maggie watched poor Mason's eyes bulge open, and he frantically looked around the room just like Maggie had done. He tugged with the restraints binding him to the chair, and it was only seconds before he was in the floor. Instead of trying to help him up, the whole family was laughing.

"We're going to have some fun with you, aren't we Mason?" Ma said laughing.

"Can I take Maggie in my room now?" the louder son begged. "Daniel can come with me. Okay Daniel?"

The quiet boy nodded, but Maggie was sobbing. What was going to happen to them? This wasn't some joke gone wrong. This was really happening. Was she going to die here? She knew that the two brothers, or at least one of them, was going to rape her, but what about after that? They wouldn't just let her walk away. Maybe she would be able to convince them to keep her around until she could figure out a way to get help.

"Okay you two, go ahead," Ma said. "Pa and I are going to get better acquainted with Mason."

"Leave him alone!" Maggie screamed at them. She was sure that Mason would be trying to defend her as well if he didn't still have a gag in his mouth. Joseph lifted Maggie up in her chair, and she screamed the entire way. She had a terrible feeling in her gut that the image of Mason struggling in his chair would be the last time she ever saw him.

* * *

><p>J.J. couldn't sleep that night. The hotel was warm enough, but she always had trouble falling asleep on a new case. The walls were thin in the building, and she could hear Prentiss moving around in the room next to her. She tried to focus on a book, but her attention kept getting drawn back to the case. Whoever the unsub was, he did take a break between his earlier victims and Audrey. It could be the same guy. The BTK had a gap in between his murders, and so it was possible that this guy had some kind of accident, but he recovered. He might have practiced on animals or something, and that explains how Audrey's face was in worse condition. He had years to build his anger and rage so when he finally did attack, it was brutal.<p>

J.J. wrapped herself in her robe, and snuggled underneath the bed sheets. Her feet still felt cold, but two pairs of socks was enough. She wasn't moving to the North Pole or anything, and she'd probably be used to the cold nights by the time they left.

She agreed with Hotch that the killer lived in the town somewhere. He knew the forest well, and he knew how to elude the town of the murders for years. He was a local, and he probably lived in this town his entire life. J.J. laid her head down on the pillow when she heard a knock on her door. She slowly got out of the warm bed, and went to open it. She saw Prentiss standing in her robe and slippers by J.J.'s door. J.J. smiled, and opened the door to let her friend in.

"Are you freezing?" Prentiss asked. J.J. shut the door behind her, and got back in the bed.

"I thought I was the only one!" J.J. said.

"God, I hope it's not going to be this cold ever day we're here," Prentiss said sitting on the bed.

"I think it's the storm making it so cold outside. If it's this cold every day, I didn't pack very well," J.J. said.

"You didn't? At least you brought some sweaters. I think the only thing Morgan brought was an array of tee shirts!"

"I'm going to laugh so hard if he's the only one of us that catches a cold," J.J. joked.

"Even if he did, he wouldn't tell us. He'd be waiting until our backs were turned to sneeze."

"True," J.J. said. "Do you think we'll find this unsub fast?"

"I hope so. This guy is a total sicko. I have a love-hate relationship with these small towns. They are either sweet and life-loving people, or the whole town as some dark secret that they plan to carry with them till their graves," Prentiss said.

"You've been watching too many scary movies!" J.J. said.

"It's true. I don't think this is one of the religious cult kind of towns, but most cities don't have a pile of bodies in the local forest."

"I don't think the sheriff is involved in any way," J.J. said.

"I didn't say that," Prentiss said. "But I'm positive he knows the unsub. He doesn't know it yet, but I'm sure they know each other."

"It's a smaller town. Everybody knows everybody. Was a teacher the last person to see Audrey alive?" J.J. asked.

"I don't remember," Prentiss answered. "Why?"

"We could talk to the teacher to see how she was acting. She probably knew her killer which is why she willingly followed him. She wasn't dragged off kicking and screaming," J.J. said.

"That makes sense," Prentiss said. "It could be a teacher doing all of this. We should talk to them tomorrow."

"Tired yet?" J.J. asked her smiling. Prentiss stretched out her legs, and laid flat on J.J.'s bed.

"No, are you?"

"No," J.J. replied.

"We should tease Reid," Prentiss said rolling over. J.J. laughed, and stretched her arms over her head to keep herself from falling asleep. It was already past midnight.

"Got any ideas?" J.J. asked.

"Um," Prentiss said looking around. "We can hide his socks and leave him with a matching pair!"

J.J. felt tears fall down her face from laughter. She didn't know if it was because she wasn't warm or because she was rather tired, but everything Prentiss said made her want laugh.

"We should!" J.J. exclaimed. "He'll totally blame Morgan!" J.J. laughed again, and fell back on her pillow. She loved nights like this. Most people didn't have jobs like they did. Most people worked 9-5 on weekdays, and spent nights with their families. J.J. had to be able to keep herself calm in situations that would send most people packing. She needed her time to unwind and to laugh at things that really weren't that funny. It helped her keep her sanity.

_jj and prentiss needed their moment lol. deny it all u want, but we need some kind of relief after witnessing laura's fantasies...creepy much? so PLEASE revew. remember, more reviews encourages me to get faster updates. let me know what u think about laura and her family. cuz thats pretty much what u can write about. till next time! xoxo_


	4. Chapter 4

_heya everybody. i sure got A LOT of alerters and favoriters (new word, u must learn) on this story. not sure why, but i guess im on to something haha. um, this story is MUCH darker than my other one. i think every character that i made up is pretty messed up in more ways than one. u guys will finally get to see a little more about daniel. like i said, he is probably one of the scariest people in this family. him or that mom of his. *shudders* well, um warnings...this story is dark so read at ur own risk. its probably just going to get worse from here lol._

Daniel stayed quiet while his brother had fun with the girl. He didn't mind her screams or constant pleas to him for help. He wasn't going to help her. He wasn't interested in her at all, but that didn't mean he was going to help her. Daniel took off his shirt like he was going to join in later, but he had no intentions of doing that. He sat close to his brother as he struggled to keep the girl still. She was breathing through her mouth, and water was falling from both of her eyes. Did she know she was going to die? Was there any hope left in her that she would somehow get rescued? He couldn't tell.

"Stop looking at me!" Joseph yelled. "It's creeping me out. You'll get your turn next!"

Daniel got up, and sat back on the bed. He could hear her boyfriend's pathetic whimpers in the next room, and he was mildly curious to see what his parents were up to. From the sounds of it, whatever was happening sounded interesting. As much as he wanted to venture out into the family room, he knew he needed to stay put. Joseph was almost finished. His family already considered him a freak. He knew that. He just wasn't like them. He accepted the way that he was. He just wished that his family would too.

"She's all yours bro," Joseph said. Joseph pulled his pants back up, and walked out of the room. He was probably going to the bathroom to wash the scent of the girl off of him. She crawled into the corner of the room. Her legs were up by her chest, and her tears fell like raindrops during a thunderstorm.

"You don't have to do this," she whispered. "You can come with me to the police station or you could just let me go. I could go out the window. Please."

Daniel got down on the floor next to her, and looked over her body. She was a pretty girl, not really his type, but pretty all the same. Her legs were smooth from a recent shave, and it looked like she had a manicure done not too long ago. She was shaking with fear, but no blood was left behind from his brother's rape. His brother wasn't as tough as he thought he was. Daniel got a knife from the nightstand, and ran it up and down her lower legs.

"You look like a nice guy," she continued. "Do you get good grades in school?"

"What does it matter to you?" he asked. Little goose bumps raised on her legs whenever the blade passed. He was sure the hairs on her legs would rise too if she had any left to see.

"You look smarter than your brother."

He pressed the tip of the blade down on one of her calves. She bit her lip as a small circle of blood formed underneath the knife. This was the stuff that really kept people alive? It almost looked like red paint. He brought the knife up to his nose and sniffed the liquid on the tip.

"What grade are you in?" she asked.

"Junior," he said casually bringing the knife back down to her legs.

"Junior? You look younger than that," she said quickly.

"They brought me up a year. I am smart," Daniel told her. He brought the knife up to her right cheek. She was frantically trying to calm herself down, but she couldn't get her breathing under control. It was slightly amusing.

"I'm in college," she told him. "My boyfriend is smart too. He is on the dean's list."She closed her eyes when they both heard him scream from the other room. "Please, let me go. You can tell the others you killed me already or something."

He flipped the knife over so the sharp side was pressed against her skin. Just like before, he pressed the blade down and watched the thin line of blood appear. She had her eyes closed tightly. He didn't take the knife away like last time. He continued pressing down. He wondered how long he would have to press down until he found the bone.

"Please!" she shouted at him. "I don't want to die. I really don't. I don't want to die."

Any kind of reasoning that she once had was gone in an instant. Her words became mumbled together when she started bawling. Her entire body was trembling in fear, and the liquids from her nose were becoming mixed together with her tears. She was a wreck. Daniel took the blade away from her bloody cheek, but brought it down again before she knew what hit her. The knife tore the flesh from her face and the girl let out a blood curdling scream. He dragged her away from the wall, and kicked her out of the fetal position. He was down on top of her before she had a chance to crawl away. He brought his knife down on her other cheek, and he ripped at her as he searched for her cheek bone. Her mouth was cut open because she was screaming while Daniel worked. He halfway hoped this would quiet her up, but it didn't. She tried pushing him off of her. Why wouldn't she just stop? She grabbed a handful of his hair which hurt like hell. Why wouldn't she just stay still? He brought his knife down once more, but he felt that he had no control over where the knife went. It ended up in her left eye. The juices squirt out from her eye and onto his hand.

Daniel fell back on the ground beside her. Her hands were twitching, but she wasn't screaming anymore. In fact, it looked like she wasn't breathing anymore. He crawled closer to her, and looked at the mess he left on her face. Both of her cheeks were torn off, and her mouth resembled the infamous Joker from the Batman movies. Her eye was the only thing that really disturbed him. How far had he gotten that knife in? He grabbed hold of it with both hands, and it took more than one jerk to get it out of her eyeball. The silver part of the knife was covered in blood, but her eye was completely gone. There was a black eye where her eye used to sit. The twitching finally stopped, and her remaining eye was staring up at his ceiling. He grabbed his knife again, and carefully started taking the rest of skin off of her face. He put the discarded flesh on the floor next to him, but he didn't care about that. Removing the skin from her skull was almost like artwork. He worked slowly, making sure not to harm the skull itself. When he got to her hair, he debated against removing it. In the end, he decided to leave it alone. Her hair smelled good, and it would be a shame to throw it away like the dead skin. It reminded him a lot of a cheese pizza. Ever since he was little, he took the cheese off the top of his pizza. Whenever he looked at the old cheese lying on his plate, it grossed him out. He preferred to eat the bread with the sauce on it. Maggie had become that cheese pizza.

He got up, and threw the dead skin into the trash can by his bed. It was disgusting. He put her clothes in a pile by the door, and looked back at her body. The girl did really try hard to stay in shape. While she was not perfect, she was looking pretty good. Her thighs were a bit flabby, but she stomach was flat. Her breasts were of average size, and he was very fond of her calves.

"You almost done in there sweetie pie?" his ma called.

"Give me a few more minutes," Daniel shouted back. He took off her pants, and bent down closer to the body.

"Don't tire yourself out dear. I don't want you guys getting rid of the bodies tonight. You have school in the morning!"

"Okay ma!" he yelled. "I'll put her in the barn when I'm done."

"Sounds good baby. I'm thinking about making some chocolate chip cookies tonight. I am in a cheerful mood for some reason." He heard her laughing, and his tongue was watering at the thought of chocolate melting in his mouth, but he knew the cookies wouldn't be done for a while. He had enough time to play with the girl.

* * *

><p>Reid woke up to a freezing room. They had not given him enough blankets to even keep a little warm that night. He was glad he took his shower last night. There would be no way in the world that he would get into the shower to come out to a freezing building. He pulled up another pair of socks around the ones he was wearing, and got dressed as fast as he could. What he really wanted to do was take the comforter downstairs with him, but he knew that the others would be teasing him more than normal if he did. He settled with a warm sweater underneath a jacket. He put a pair of gloves in his pockets and headed downstairs.<p>

Morgan and Rossi were already sitting at a table picking over blueberry muffins. Rossi had almost finished his, but Morgan was doing more talking than eating. Reid sat down beside Morgan, and grabbed one of the muffins sitting in front of them. He would rather sit in front of the fireplace in the front, but he knew he needed to eat something.

"You cold pretty boy?" Morgan asked. Morgan was actually wearing a sweater. It wasn't thick, but it was a sweater. Reid didn't think he had ever seen Morgan wear a sweater in his entire life. Rossi was wearing a thick jacket.

"I think you're cold," Reid replied. He put a piece of the muffin in his mouth, and was disappointed to find it cold. He didn't know why he was hoping for warm muffins.

"It's like 20 degrees outside!" Morgan said.

"I didn't know you even owned a sweater," Rossi said smiling. "I'm going to need to get a picture of this to remember."

"Yeah, real funny," Morgan mumbled.

"Good morning everyone," Hotch said coming out of nowhere. Reid took another bite of his muffin, but it body couldn't figure out why he was eating when it was so cold. "Where's J.J. and Prentiss?"

"I think they're still upstairs," Reid told him.

"We're going to need to get to work soon. Reid, you and Morgan will be coming with me to the high school with me today. I want you two to talk to a few of the kids to see if they can tell us anything more about the girl who was killed. I want to talk to the school counselor to see if she noticed anything different about the students following the murder," Hotch said.

"You think the killers could be one of the students?" Morgan asked.

Reid took a final bite of the muffin and pushed it aside. He saw Prentiss and J.J. walking down the stairs. They were dressed warmer than he was. J.J. looked like she was ready for a snow storm outside.

"I don't know," Hotch said. "It's a good place to start though. It is a small town, and the students were the ones that saw her every day. It's a good bet to think one of them saw something."

"I actually think it could be one of the students," Rossi said. "It would make sense that one of them saw her stay behind at school to talk to a teacher. They could have easily followed her."

"Rossi, you go with Prentiss to the location of the bodies. The sheriff left me a message this morning that more bodies were found. J.J., can you go to the station to see what the victims have in common?"

"Of course," she said sitting down next to Reid. She grabbed one of the muffins. Reid was ready to go. Moving his body would get him warmer. He was sick of sitting in the freezing dining room with cold blueberry muffins. He didn't even want any of the drinks that were sitting out.

"Did you know that water that is less than 70 degrees lowers the body temperature which can lead to hyperthermia?" Reid asked the others without a breath.

"I wouldn't be drinking ice water in this weather anyway," J.J. said.

"I'm up for some hot chocolate," Prentiss added.

"Everyone ready to leave?" Hotch asked. Reid zipped up his jacket and stood up next to Hotch. He had been ready to leave since he got up that morning. Hotch had the heat on in the SUV, but that only offered them comfort when they were in the vehicle. It was horrible getting outside. The cold air hit Reid like tiny needles all over his skin.

"Ready to build a snowman?" Morgan asked him. "It's not snowing, but I'm sure if you waited long enough, some will come." Morgan laughed at his own joke. Hotch didn't take notice of either of them. He walked straight to the front doors of the school.

"Better be good Morgan or Santa is going to check you on his naughty list," Reid said smiling.

"I think I've been on that guy's bad list ever since I tried stealing that fake beard from one of those Santas in the mall. The dude was the skinny guy. There was no way in hell he could have been the real thing," Morgan said.

Reid looked around at the kids getting dropped off by their parents or parking their bikes out front. Reid always took his bike to school, but it was never this cold outside. Their bikes would be covered in frost if they left them outside all day. Most of the kids were dressed in layers, but a few of the boys tried to brave out the cold by coming in sweatshirts or just a plain tee shirt. Reid noticed that most of those boys would be considered the alpha males.

"Hey, Sue, looks like your boyfriend finally got here!" one of the jocks yelled out to another girl. Reid noticed that the kid was pointing at him, and he started walking faster. He was used to being the subject of most jokes, but he didn't really want to be made fun of by high school kids. "He even brought his purse!" Reid kept the messenger bag close to him, and hurried up the few stairs to get inside. He was glad that Morgan didn't hear the jock. Morgan would never forget it.

Reid found Hotch and Morgan waiting outside an office. He took the gloves off his hands, and tried not to draw any more attention to himself as he walked towards them. He was remembering why he hated high school so much.

"How did you get lost going up those four steps?" Morgan asked.

"Not now you two," Hotch said firmly. He opened the door, and led them into an old looking office. There was a wooden desk sitting in front of a bookcase. Reid scanned the bookshelf and was pleased to know that he read most of those books already. Sitting in the chair by the desk was a woman in her 60s. Her dark hair was worn by her shoulders, and a pair of reading glasses sat on her nose. She was wearing a black dress suit with a pair of tights and tall shoes. She didn't look like the kind of woman to mess around with. Reid was positive he saw someone like her in a nightmare once.

"Mrs. White?" Hotch asked extending his hand. She took it firmly, and offered him one of the two chairs to sit down on. Rossi took the other one. Reid stood in the back.

"I'm Agent Hotchner and this is Agent Rossi and Doctor Reid," Hotch said gesturing to them.

"Welcome to my school. I'm sorry that it's under such grave circumstances," Mrs. White said. She took off her reading glasses, and looked at the three agents. Audrey was such a fine student. She was never in trouble."

"She never had any strange absences from school?" Rossi asked.

"None that I know of. I mean, she wasn't the most popular girl in school, but she wasn't a trouble maker. I know that you wanted to meet with the counselor?"

"Yes," Hotch said. "I'd like to speak with her. I was going to have Agents Rossi and Reid speak with some of the students if that is possible. Maybe even one of her teachers if that is possible."

"Of course," Mrs. White said. She pressed down on a speaker on her desk. "Could you please have Ms. Allen come to my office please? Thanks." She stood up, and buttoned up another button on her jacket. "I'll escort both of you to Audrey's homeroom. The counselor will be in here momentarily," she told Hotch.

Reid was a step behind Morgan as they followed the principle out into the hallway. Students were lingering around their lockers and glaring at the agents when they walked by while waiting for the morning bells. Reid assumed that because this was a small town, it was easy to spot someone who didn't belong. Reid and Morgan didn't exactly blend in. Reid could tell the groups of kids apart with ease. The jocks hung around the skinny blondes, the gothic kids wore all black which reminded Reid of vampires, and the geeks were wearing clothes that were either too big for them or didn't match at all.

Mrs. White zapped her way through the students. They made room for her to pass without a single word, and Reid knew that she was the authority figure that he imagined her to be. She knocked on the third classroom on their right. The bells rung a moment ago and the students were getting settled in their desks. Mrs. White opened the door without waiting for a response. Reid trailed in behind Morgan, and saw all of the kids ignoring the new visitors. Why did Hotch always think he could talk to high school kids? He couldn't even talk to them when he was in high school. Then again, he was much younger than the other kids. The teacher was a woman who didn't look much older than the students. She was pretty with light brown hair and grey eyes.

The principle walked up to her, and whispered into her ear. The teacher wore a long dress with a sweater over the top. It was a mystery of why the school would hire a teacher not much older than those she taught. Reid looked over the students in the classroom. The bigger boys sat in the back with their feet on the desks instead of on the floor. The smaller students sat in the front with their books opened to the proper page and their eyes on the teacher. The average students were the ones that sat in the middle. The only student that really stuck out to Reid was a thin boy sitting by the window. He looked younger than the other students, and he was the only one that was not engaged in some kind of activity. He was just staring out the window at the misty morning.

"Everyone quiet!" the young teacher shouted. "In your seats, now! That means you too Freddy!" Reid saw the large boy in the back take his feet off the desk. "These two men work for the FBI. Their names are Agent Morgan and Agent Reid. They are just here to ask a few questions."

"Morning everyone," Morgan said to them. None of them responded. In fact, only a few had his full attention. "Any tests today?" Once again, none of the students answered. "You guys sure are the talkative bunch."

"It's like the crack of dawn," one of the students mumbled.

"Actually, it's about 8am. The sun rose several hours ago," Reid said quickly. Morgan gave him a look, and Reid heard several students laugh. Why did this remind him so much of his own days in school? He hated it.

"One more peep from you, and you got yourself a detention Freddy. Got it?" the teacher asked.

"Yes Ma'am," the boy with blonde hair said in back.

"Not having a good morning, are you Freddy?" Morgan asked. Morgan circled around the classroom, and looked over the students like Reid had been doing. "Where did Audrey sit?"

"Right there sir," one of the students said pointing to an empty desk.

"And this was her first class? How many of you were friends with her?" Morgan asked as he walked over to the desk. The desk was empty. Audrey left no note or hint at all to what she planned to do after class that day. With no identification on the other victims, it gave Reid and the others little to go on. If they could find out more about Audrey, they might be able to follow her trail.

Once again, none of the students raised their hands. They kept their eyes off of Reid and off of Morgan. Reid remembered J.J. telling them that Audrey didn't have many friends. Morgan walked away from Audrey's desk and started looking at the students again.

"Not one of you talked to her?" Morgan asked. Reid noticed the principle left the room, but they really weren't having much luck with the kids. They weren't very friendly.

"I talked to her a few times, but we weren't really friends," a red head in the back said.

"What's your name?" Morgan asked.

"Lilly," the girl said. "We only talked when we were in here. We didn't have lunch together or anything." She seemed terrified of being in the spotlight.

"Would you mind if I asked you a few questions? It will only take a minute or two," Morgan told her. The girl looked at the kids around her before she got up from her desk. Reid watched them leave, and glanced at the other kids. Half of them were doodling in a notebook while others whispered to each other in hopes that the teacher wouldn't notice. Reid did see that Freddy was on his best behavior.

"Did you know Audrey well?" Reid asked the teacher. The kids resumed their full on talking, and figured that the absence of one student meant a break in the class.

"She did talk to me," the teacher told him. "She talked to me the night she died."

"You were the teacher she talked to?" No one ever mentioned the teacher that Audrey talked to. They knew it had to do with school, but they were more interested in the events that happened after she left the school.

"Yes, she wanted to know if she could do some extra credit for a project due next week. She was worried about her grade, and I told her that she could do some extra work."

"Was anyone with her? Did you see someone outside with her?"

"There were a few boys outside, but the boys usually hang around outside. It was getting darker so I didn't see their faces," she told Reid.

"What's your name?" Reid asked.

"I'm Miss Parker," she said smiling. "Kate Parker."

Reid scribbled it down in his notebook. Audrey was outside with a few boys the night she died, but that didn't prove anything.

"She didn't have a boyfriend?" Reid asked her.

"Not that I saw. She hung around her girlfriends a lot, but I think most girls do at this age," Miss Parker said. "She was funny. I loved her in my class."

"Did she get picked on by anyone?"

"The boys in the back pick on anyone breathing," she told Reid. "I saw you looking at them, but they didn't taunt her daily. In fact, they barely talked to her."

"Who's the boy by the window?" Reid asked her after a moment of silence.

"His name is Daniel," she said looking at the boy. "He's only 15 years old, but he skipped a grade. He's one of my best students."

Morgan came back in with Lilly, and she went right back to her desk. She whispered something into another girl's ear, and both of them started laughing. What could possibly be funny about a murdered girl? None of the students in this room seemed to care.

"Detention Freddy!" Miss Parker shouted. She wasn't even facing the students, but she somehow saw the kid put a piece of gum under the desk.

"Aw, come on!" he complained.

"Do you want to make it two days?" she asked him. She finally turned around, and the students got quiet. Freddy didn't say another word.

"Get anything?" Morgan whispered to Reid.

"This was the teacher that talked to Audrey that day. She saw some boys outside, but she couldn't tell which ones," Reid said. Reid looked up and saw Daniel staring very oddly at Miss Parker, and then he turned to look at Reid. Reid usually connected with the geekier students who never seemed to fit in anywhere else, but he didn't with this boy. The stare that he was giving Reid was unsettling.

"Yeah, well Lilly told me that Audrey hated mornings but loved horses and Harry Potter. That was a real help," Morgan said. Daniel was looking away again when Reid looked back. The kid was pale with brown hair, and he had minor acne across his face. He wore a purple button down shirt with black pants. He had an empty notebook on his desk, and his backpack looked empty.

"Who are you looking at kid?" Morgan asked him.

"The boy by the window gave me the weirdest look," Reid told him. "It was probably nothing."

* * *

><p>Laura parked the almost broken truck near the front of the store. She hated having to walk far, but she was excited to be back in a store. She found some cash in the boy's wallet from last night, and she couldn't wait to surprise her sons with cheese that night. Mason, or whatever his name had been, had $20 in a leather wallet. Her good for nothing husband claimed the wallet, but she took the money to get some groceries. The cheese was on the top of the list. She was also thinking of getting a little candy for herself.<p>

She grabbed a cart from outside, and marveled when the sliding doors opened by themselves. She looked around for a moment, trying to remember where everything was, and then she made her way over to the cold section. The biggest decision that morning would be what kind of cheese to get. She was always a fan of American cheese, but her husband liked Swiss the best. She decided to get American just because he never liked it. She picked out the store brand, but she almost put it right back when she saw it was $5. It was only $4 last time. She remembered it perfectly. That seemed like an awful lot of money for cheese!

"I can't believe the FBI is in town, can you?" another woman asked Laura. Laura looked up, and saw Mrs. Diller who lived nearby.

"They are?" Laura asked.

"Some of them are at the high school now. They're talking to students!"

Laura dropped the cheese into her cart. The FBI was talking to her kids? They had no right in the world to talk to her babies without her permission.

"How do you know?"

"My girl of course," Mrs. Diller said. "She's been texting me."

"Do you know the names of the agents? I had a cousin who works there. It'd be such a surprise to see him back in town," Laura lied.

"Yeah, give me a second," the woman said. She texted something into her phone while Laura waited. "I guess it's all because of poor Audrey. Did you hear that her face was missing? The murderer cut off the girl's face!"

"How horrible!" Laura agreed. She still couldn't believe the price of cheese had gone up. She needed to write the government about this. It was getting too expensive to live.

"Here, she texted back. Um, Agent Hotchner, Agent Reid, and Agent Morgan. You know them?"

"None of them are my cousin," Laura said. "I got to go. Try to keep warm Mrs. Diller. We're in for one bad winter."

"Tell me about it," the friendly neighbor said.

Laura pushed her cart into one of the lines, and grabbed a candy bar when she got close enough. An older man rung up her two items. He looked miserable to be working there, but that wasn't Laura's problem.

"Why is the cheese $5 now? It was cheaper last time I was here," she complained loudly.

"Ma'am, I don't make the prices. They pay me to stand here and ring you up. I have nothing to do with the cheese or prices," he said.

"Well, I might have to take my business elsewhere!" she threatened. The older man's demeanor did not change. He looked like he would be able to fall asleep in minutes if offered a chair.

"The total is $6.50 ma'am," he said. She glared at him, but pulled the $20 out of her pocket and handed it to him. She got her food in a paper bag, and almost ran to her car. She had so much to do when she got home. She was just thankful there wasn't traffic that morning. She pulled up right in front of the house. She threw the cheese in the fridge, and put the candy in her pocket for later.

"Where's your cutting knife?" she asked Benjamin.

"How the hell should I know?" he asked her. He was sitting on the couch watching an episode of Maury.

"Cuz it's your knife smart one," she told him.

"Probably in the barn. Used that one to cut the boy's throat," he said.

Laura went out to the barn, and found the knife sitting nearby the two bodies. Flies were gathering around the naked bodies, but she scared them away. She pulled up her sleeves, and went to work. The bodies were stinking, but she needed to get the FBI away from her babies. Benjamin stumbled in when she was almost done.

"What in the world are you doing woman?"

"The FBI is at the boy's school today. This should scare the hell out of them," she said smiling.

"Drawing on the bodies?"

"I'm not drawing on the bodies!" she yelled at him. She flung the knife into one of the walls of the barn and looked down at her work. "These are the names of some of the agents."

"Hotner and Red? Weird ass names if you ask me," he mumbled.

"Hotchner and Reid! There was a third one, but I forgot it and only got two bodies here to work with." She had carved the names into the stomachs of the victims. She made it deep enough so that the names could be read clearly, but she almost ran out of room with the longer name. Overall, she was proud of her work. "Think you can drop off the bodies somewhere?"

"Why me?"

"Cuz your bigger you dumb ass!" she said getting up. "And if you do it now, they won't think it's one of our boys."

"Why not?"

"Yeah, cuz no one would notice if you took two corpses to school with you." What she saw in this man, she would never know.

"Fine. Fine. I'll drive them by the school. No one goes in the back of the school during classes, and since it's still early, all the kids are probably in their little desks. I'll go bring the truck closer."

She watched him walk out of the barn, and she retrieved the knife from the wall. She wasn't going to leave him in charge of it. The fool might lose it. She looked back at the bodies again, and smiled when she thought of the new bra she was wearing. Daniel told her it would be a perfect fit, and her smart boy was right as usual. She wondered why he decided to stab the girl's eye out as a way of murder, but she wouldn't question it. She loved her sons, no matter what.

* * *

><p>They had been at the school over an hour, and hadn't really uncovered anything new. They finally did manage to track down Audrey's two closest friends, but the girls hadn't been able to tell Morgan anything that he didn't already know. Audrey never told them about a new boyfriend. She didn't even tell them she was staying after school that day. Hotch told them that the school shrink barely spoke to Audrey. She saw her once at the beginning of the school year for introductions, but that was it. None of the other students ever mentioned her. She really was just an average girl. There was nothing to make her stand out from the other girls.<p>

"The killer might not be a student Hotch," Morgan said. "Audrey talked to her teacher, walked home, and met up with the unsub on the way."

They sat on bleachers in the cafeteria room. It was quiet for the most part, and they were able to concentrate better. Morgan did agree with Reid that the one kid they saw was creepy, but he didn't look like he would even be able to lift Audrey off the ground.

"We need to see what she has in common with the other victims," Hotch said. "There's a reason why she was chosen."

Reid was about to say something when they heard a scream coming from outside. Morgan was on his feet before Reid even had time to react. He ran as fast as he could towards the sound of the terrified man. Morgan ran through some kind of hallway, and pushed the back door open. At first, he didn't see anything. There were two large dumpsters sitting against a brick wall, and a broken down school bus. Morgan ran out onto the pavement, and saw a janitor standing next to the school wall. Morgan hurried towards the man, and saw what the janitor was staring at. Two corpses were lying in the street.

"I thought they were dummies!" the man shouted at Morgan when he saw them. "You know, those dummies the kids learn CPR on or whatever." The man was visibly shaken.

The bodies were naked, and they looked like they had just been thrown there. One was a man, and the other body was a woman, but both of them had their faces ripped off. It was no mystery as to who did this to them. Morgan kneeled down closer to the corpses when he spotted that something was written harshly into their stomachs. He heard Hotch and Reid come up behind him, but he didn't turn around.

"Oh my God," the principle gasped. Morgan didn't even hear her come up. "Are those your names?"

Morgan finally turned around. Reid was staring wide-eyed at the bodies. Hotch held the stone face he was famous for, but Morgan saw shock in his eyes.

"The unsub knows about us," Morgan told them after a moment of silence. He looked back at the corpses and read the names again. Reid's name was in the stomach of the young woman, and Hotch had his name carved in the stomach of the man.

_u guys scared yet? haha. like i said, very disturbing story. still building up their personalities, but you pretty much should have them down by now. im going to have the teacher stay n the story a bit longer. i kinda like her character a lot. but um ya. tell me what u think! plz remember 2 REVIEW. there is a little button right below this, and if u click on it, it makes me very happy inside. and remember, more REVIEWS mean faster updates. until next time! xoxo_


	5. Chapter 5

_this chapter pretty much wrote itself. its graphic, like all the other chapters have been, but its not as bad as its really going to get...thought u guys should know. this family is sick beyond belief. every single one of them is dangerous and i really would rather meet the unsub from my other story instead of them haha. which creepy family member is ur favorite? just curious 2 see which ones u guys will think is goin 2 b the scariest n the end. and u guys got a fast chapter update becuz i got so many reviews, so go u guys! yay! _

Reid stared at his name that was so roughly carved into the body of the young woman. The letters were jagged, as if the writer did it in a hurry, but that was definitely his name. The skin on her face was neatly removed, and one of her eyeballs stared lifelessly at the sky. He bent down on his knees when Hotch disappeared around the corner to call the others. The man was killed with a cut to the throat. That was obvious, but not the girl. Her neck was clean for the most part.

"What should I do about the students?" Mrs. White asked.

"Could you have an early release for today?" Morgan asked. "I already see heads peaking out the windows over here. It would be best if they didn't have to see this."

"Of course," Mrs. White said. "Should I tell the teachers what is happening?"

"Have them stay inside," Morgan said. "I don't know how the unsub got our names, but I'm betting at least one student was texting during class today. I'm sure one of the teachers noticed. Get a list of the kids that were caught texting."

She nodded, and hurried back inside with her hand over her mouth. The poor janitor was still standing in the corner until Hotch came back, and whispered something in his ear. He glanced back at the bodies before he walked around to the front of the school.

"What are you looking at?" Morgan asked Reid.

"This girl, she didn't die like the guy did. His throat was slit, but hers wasn't," Reid said. He leaned closer to the body, and that's when he noticed she only had one eye. There was a black hole where the other eye used to be. It should have been obvious, but the first thing that people noticed about the body was that there was not a single shred of skin on her face. The fact that she had a missing eye was an afterthought. "She was stabbed in her eye," Reid concluded.

"It is missing," Morgan said bending over.

"I was just talking to Rossi," Hotch said. "The entire town knows we're here. Rossi said the sheriff was going on about how many calls he got last night about why the FBI is in town."

"How many know our names?" Morgan asked. "How many knew we were going to be at the high school today? I'm betting one of the students texted our names to the unsub. The kid might even know they're talking to the unsub, but I'm betting that's what happened."

"This couple is probably from out of town," Reid brought up. "If they went missing in this town, we would have heard about it first thing in the morning."

"I asked the principle to let the kids out early," Morgan said. "I saw a bunch of them looking out the windows, but I asked her to have the teachers stay. Maybe one of them saw someone texting. That'd be a lot easier than confiscating hundreds of phones."

"The unsub is taunting us," Hotch said. "He lives in this town, and he doesn't like us here."

"There's more than one unsub," Reid said getting up. "These people were both killed in different ways, and it looks like different kinds of knives were used. She's the only one I've seen who had her eye stabbed out. It looks like she was raped too. There are bruises on her thighs."

Reid looked over at the male body, but chose against getting closer to it. He could only stand so much of being next to a faceless person. It was nauseating. He was glad he didn't eat much that morning. He was sure that the male victim was raped too.

"So a kid sends a text to the unsub, they carve names in the bodies, and drop them off behind the school where they know we will find them," Morgan concluded. "I wonder why he chose your names."

"I wonder which student sent the text," Reid said quietly. He thought back to Daniel sitting by the window. There wasn't a cell phone on his desk or in his lap. By the look of the kid's clothes, he probably didn't even own a cell phone. It couldn't be any student from that class. None of them knew about Hotch, and his name was written on the other body. Reid heard approaching sirens in the distance, and he looked up at Morgan. Kids were leaving the school in the front, and they were probably too excited to question why they got to leave early.

"It might not be a student," Hotch said. "We were all over the town yesterday. It couldn't have been that hard to get some of our names."

Reid stepped away when he felt his phone busy. He liked the excuse to get away from the bodies, especially the one staring at the sky with her one eye. He stepped by the trashcans near the back door so he was still in reach of Hotch and Morgan.

"Reid," he said into his phone.

"Hey, it's J.J. I tried calling Hotch a minute ago, but his phone was busy," a familiar voice said.

"Two more bodies were just found," Reid told her. "They were found behind the school, and they have our names carved in the stomachs."

"Our names?"

"Well, Hotch and me. They might have done all of our names if they had more bodies," Reid said looking back. The police were arriving with a crime scene unit. Yellow tape was blocking the corpses from the outside world, and the principal was back looking like she wanted to help.

"I'll be down there in a minute. I was just talking to Garcia. The coroner wasn't able to identify any of the bodies except for Audrey, but he was able to give me descriptions of what they looked like. I had Garcia start researching people missing from other towns, and a whole bunch came up from nearby cities. She's been sending me their pictures, and it's matching the descriptions the coroner gave me."

"So the people are driving on a road trip, and they get stopped by the unsub on the way," Reid said. That made sense. They might have had car trouble, or the unsub pretended to have car trouble, and that's how he got his victims. One of the unsubs was able to distract the victim while the other one knocked the victim out so they were able to drive them to a secondary location.

"Seems like it," J.J. agreed.

"Have any vehicles been found outside the town?" Reid asked.

"I was just going to start working on that now," J.J. said. "But I was going to head over there in a minute. You know for sure that it's the same unsub?"

"It'd be difficult to argue the other way," Reid said. "Their faces are missing."

* * *

><p>Miss Parker was writing down notes on the board when the loud speaker came on. She put the chalk down, and was a bit surprised when all of the students were dismissed. No reason was given, but she figured it had something to do with the FBI in town.<p>

"The paper is due first thing the next class," she told the students as they started packing up their bags. "Don't forget! And Freddy, you may serve your detention next week." She heard him mumble something, and she went behind her desk as the students left. She saw Daniel fling the empty backpack over his shoulders, but he didn't talk to any of the other kids. "Daniel, I'd like to see you for a minute," she shouted at him. She needed to be heard over the talking kids. She didn't mean to embarrass him, but he looked at his feet when the other kids started laughing.

He walked up to her desk, but he didn't look at her face. She went around her desk, and buttoned up her sweater a little bit more. It was getting colder. She waited until the last of the students were gone before she looked at him. He had been getting skinnier in the last few weeks, and she noticed that his school work was slipping.

"How are you doing Daniel?" she asked to start the conversation.

"Fine ma'am," he said looking at his feet.

"Is everything alright at home?" She halfway sat on her desk, and tried to get him to look at her.

"Yes," he said in a whisper.

"You didn't do too great on the last test," she told him. His fingers were holding the strap of his backpack in a fist, and she could smell the stink of his greasy hair. Were his parents abusing him? She looked over his body, but she couldn't spot any bruises on the skin that she saw.

"I didn't study apparently," he said.

"You can talk to me," she replied. She knew that students rarely ever went to talk to teachers about problems at home, but this boy didn't really have any friends. The only person she ever saw him talk to was his brother, and that wasn't healthy. She knew that he was picked on when he was younger because he was different, but she didn't want him to close off from the rest of the world.

"There's nothing to talk about," he said firmly. "Can I go?"

"How's your brother?" she asked. Something didn't feel right. She didn't think his brother was hurting him. While they didn't seem exactly close, his brother was really his only human contact. She didn't think Joseph would hurt him.

"How do you think?" he asked sharply. He finally looked up at her, and she could see his dark eyes. No matter how much she wanted him to stay, she couldn't keep him here. He didn't have a detention, and he didn't really do anything wrong. She would just have to keep a closer eye on him. She kept reading horrible stories in the news about kids getting picked on, and their sad tales usually ended in suicide. She didn't want that for Daniel. "Can I go?"

She tried to think of something else to ask him, but nothing came to mind. She nodded her head, and followed him out. Joseph was waiting for him by one of the lockers. Daniel put both of the straps of his backpack over his shoulders and walked right over to his brother. The older kid put his arm around Daniel, and both of them looked back at her. She held their stare until it started getting creepy when they refused to look away.

"Go on you guys. Get out here!" she shouted at them. Joseph laughed at her, but they finally left. She went back in her room to gather her stuff together. She would find out what was happening with Daniel, but she was probably needed in the principal's office. She wanted to find out why school was let out so early.

* * *

><p>Joseph was falling asleep in his desk when the beautiful voice on the loud speaker dismissed all of the students early without any kind of explanation. That was his favorite kind. He was out of the classroom before the stupid teacher could finish telling them what was due the next class.<p>

"Why do you think we got out early?" Christian asked coming up from behind. Christian was a good kid. He was the only one that willingly passed notes to Joseph all period long without the fear of getting a detention. Christian and Joseph grew up together for the most part, and they had a tendency of failing the same tests.

"Does it even matter? We're fucking free for most of the day!" Joseph said with a laugh. "What are you doing later?" Joseph stopped at his locker, and threw the books from his bag in there. He didn't plan on doing any homework on his free day.

"Aw man, you know that girl, Beckie? I invited her to my house later for dinner. Didn't tell her that my parents are out of town!" Christian said with a goofy smile on his face. "She's so freakin hot!" Christian swung his hips back and forth, and both boys broke out laughing.

"You're talkin bout that cheerleader right?" Joseph asked. "Never had a thing for blondes myself. Most of them are kinda dim-witted. I like dark haired girls."

"Too bad that Audrey chick died," Christian replied. "She was pretty hot. How many points do you think she would have been worth?"

"Loads just cuz she still lived with her mommy and daddy, but who's to say I didn't do her before she died?"

"You did?" Christian asked dropping his bag. "Really?"

Joseph smiled, and Christian started laughing. Christian slapped him across the back, and Joseph couldn't help but join in laughing. Christian had been trying to get Audrey for months. Most of the guys wanted the beautiful but shy girl who was supposed to go to her first prom that year.

"How'd you get her?" Christian asked when he finally calmed down.

"Got my ways," Joseph said smugly. "She was in my brother's class. Speaking of my brother, where the hell is he?" Joseph looked around the hallways, but he didn't see Daniel anywhere. He kind of hoped that Daniel didn't blab anything. That might be the reason they got out early.

"I don't know man, but I gotta go. Need to get the bedroom ready for tonight," Christian said. He winked at Joseph, and left the lockers. Joseph waited another minute for Daniel, and decided to wait outside of Daniel's first classroom. No bathroom break could take that long. He had to still be in there. He was probably asking for extra credit or something stupid. He leaned against one of the lockers, and wondered if his pa found another girl for that night. He was rather enjoying his nightly games with the pretty girls.

He was about to leave when the classroom door finally opened. Daniel walked out with his head down. Some teacher trailed behind him. Joseph recognized her, but he never had her as a teacher himself. He got trapped with some balding man who couldn't tell the clock on the wall from the window. It was a horrible year. Daniel went right up to him.

"Sorry, she kept me late," Daniel apologized.

"What for?" Joseph looked up at her. He wished to God that she had been his teacher last year. She was pretty hot. Why did Daniel always get the good ones?

"I did bad on my last test I guess," Daniel mumbled.

"Know how old she is?" Joseph asked.

"What?" Daniel asked turning around.

"Ha! Look, she wants a staring contest!" Joseph said with a smile. Joseph like her staring at him. It was a kind of game, and he knew that he would win. He always won. She was looking more uncomfortable by the minute.

"Go on guys. Get out of here!" she shouted at them. Joseph could have kept up the staring game all day long, but he finally turned around with Daniel.

"Feisty one, isn't she?" Joseph asked. He zipped up his jacket, and handed an old sweater over to his brother. He wasn't sure why Daniel never liked to wear his sweater to school, but he didn't care that much. His brother was an idiot.

"We don't take people from the town," Daniel reminded him.

"I know," Joseph said with resign. "I hope Pa got a hot one tonight. The girl last night wasn't really that great."

He pushed open the front doors of the school, and saw his mom standing out front by the old truck. She never picked them up from school. They had to walk home themselves since first grade, and no one ever bothered them. Being a small town, everyone knew their neighbors.

"Ma?" he asked her when he got close enough. "What are you doing here? I swear, if something happened in there, I didn't do it. That fire from last week was an accident!"

The fire really wasn't an accident. He just wanted to see what would happen if he lit the gerbil cage on fire. The result was a dead gerbil. Who would have guessed that?

"Get in boys. We got some talking to do in the car."

* * *

><p>Hotch watched the rest of his team arriving. Prentiss and Rossi hopped from the car, and trotted over to get a look at the bodies. It didn't look like any of them believed what was really happening. Hotch had unsubs call him out by name before, but that didn't make it any less unsettling. Carving his name in a body was something brand new though. He didn't like, and he hated that Reid's name was in the other body. Why did it have to be the youngest member on his team? Reid was still recovering from his the experience tied to a chair with Henkle. He wasn't ready for this.<p>

"How long have the bodies been here? Does anyone know?" Prentiss asked after she got over the initial shock of the corpses. Seeing a corpse was one thing. None of them liked it, but they knew how to handle it. Seeing a corpse with the flesh torn from its skull was something completely different. Even Rossi seemed at a loss for words.

"Janitor found them," Morgan said. "They could have been here all morning."

"But it looks like they were killed recently," Rossi said bending over. "Looks like rigor mortis is just setting in."

"They are from out of town," Reid said coming back from his phone call. "J.J. talked to Garcia, and it looks like a lot of people are missing from nearby cities."

"So the unsubs managed to get the victims out of their cars?" Morgan asked.

"They probably used the old "our car is broken" scheme. I'm sure a lot of girls would pity them, and all they had to do was overpower the girl. It would be harder for a couple," Rossi said looking down at the bodies, "but it can still be done."

"Then the unsubs drove the victims to a secondary location where they were raped and murdered," Hotch concluded. "But in this case, they didn't dump the bodies in the woods like they usually do."

"It could be because every officer in this town is down there," Prentiss said covering up her mouth. Even though it was cold outside, the stench coming from the bodies was unmistakable.

"And they know that the FBI is here," Rossi said. "They knew you would be at the school today, and that's why the bodies here. They're teasing us."

"It was the most logical place to leave the bodies too," Reid added. "J.J. was at the police station, and Rossi and Prentiss were working with the police. The three of us were, essentially, unguarded at the school."

Hotch saw J.J. hurrying up out of the corner of his eye. Her hand was over her mouth before she was even near the bodies. Hotch didn't know to take the name calling as a threat or as a tease, but he didn't want Reid left alone anymore. These unsubs were dangerous people, and it didn't look like they really cared who was killed. Hotch knew the same went for himself as well, but he didn't want his team is some kind of panic just because sadistic murderers were playing with them. They needed to stick together. The sheriff walked up beside Prentiss, and his face expressed what all of them were feeling. All the color left his cheeks.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," he mumbled. He crossed himself, and looked at Hotch.

"What do I tell the people?" he asked.

Up to that point, the unsubs were only taking people from out of town. They got their victims when they were least expecting it, and so they were not missed by the by the people in the town. Nobody knew about the killings until the ditch with bodies were found. The only victim from town was Audrey, but then they went right back to people from out of town.

"The roads going out of town are going to have to be blocked off," Rossi said.

"But then what's going to stop them from killing people here?" J.J. asked.

"The people here are going to have to be warned," Hotch said. "We're all going back to the station now to get this profile down, but something has to be done. These killers are getting braver by the minute. It will only be a matter of time before they start attacking the people who live here. The people here probably know the unsubs very well, and so they will probably be easier to get than strangers on a drive."

"I think one of them is already devolving," Reid said looking at the female victim. "It looks like the knife went all the way to the back of her head. That's nothing like the other bodies found."

"He'd be the one to start taking people from the town," Morgan said.

"What exactly do I tell the media then? Watch your backs because there's a sicko on the loose who doesn't like faces?" the sheriff asked.

Hotch heard a crowd of people gathering outside the yellow tape. He looked over and saw parents standing there with their kids, older couples looking over curiously, and a few people just standing by themselves to see what was happening.

"The people here aren't used to this," the sheriff explained. "Most of them grew up here. They all know each other. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Are you sure that the killers live here?"

"Positive," Hotch said without a second thought. "One of them will own a van or a truck. It's not going to be expensive, and it won't stand out from the other cars. One of them is going to work from home or be unemployed. The bodies were dropped off when we were at the school, and seeing as it's a weekday, most people are at work right now."

"From the looks of it, it's at least two men," Morgan said.

"Garcia will be able to tell us more about the victims when we get back. The coroner gave me descriptions of the people who were murdered, and Garcia has been working on matching it up to people missing in the area," J.J. said. "Then we'll be able to see the type of people that are getting attacked."

"So you really want me to tell all those people that there's two men driving a creepy looking van that likes to cut up faces?" the sheriff asked. He had backed away from the two bodies. It looked like he was avoiding being near them at all cost. Hotch couldn't blame him.

"Tell them to stay inside," J.J. said. "Have them lock their doors at night, and to travel in groups, especially women. The majority of victims have been women."

Hotch waited for the sheriff to walk away. The poor man was talking to himself about what exactly he was going to tell his town. Hotch would hate to have his job, but he had more important things to deal with. He had to keep his team safe. That was the most important thing right now. He wasn't going to let anything happen to Reid. He didn't know how much the unsubs really knew about them, but he didn't want to risk it. If Morgan was right, and it was just a kid from the high school who unknowingly texted the unsub, they might not know what Hotch or Reid even looked like. All they had was their names.

"I don't want any of us traveling alone either. The unsubs are armed, and they need to be considered dangerous," Hotch said. "We need to go back to the station. Let's go a profile together to give to the media."

Rossi led the way back to the three cars. Hotch wanted Reid in his car. He knew that Reid was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, but Hotch was worried. Hotch was more worried about Reid than himself. Hotch knew how to fight back. Reid might have the brains that most people lacked, but his body wasn't that strong. Hotch was the last one to get in the SUV. This was the first case in a long time that actually got him worried.

* * *

><p>Benjamin's family was packed tightly in their truck. He wanted to be home taking a nap. That's what he was supposed to be doing, but Laura insisted they pick up the boys from school. It wasn't until Benjamin saw the FBI walking back to their cars that he perked up.<p>

"Did both of you meet the agents?" Laura asked sweetly.

"Daniel met two of them," Joseph said. "They never came in my room, but I think they were talking about Audrey. She was in Daniel's class."

"Which ones are Hotchner and Reid?" Joseph asked. The two women with an older man were the first ones into the black SUV.

"Reid is the skinny one in the back," Daniel said.

Joseph spotted him easily. He was dressed warmly, and he kept his messenger bag close to his side. He looked like he was the youngest of the bunch. He looked like he was still in college.

"I don't know about Hotchner," Daniel said after looking over the rest.

"Only three of them were in the school today," Joseph said. "It was the darker dude and the one guy wearing the suit with the white skin."

"The darker man is Agent Morgan," Daniel said.

"So the guy next to Reid is Hotchner," Benjamin concluded. The man looked to be about his age. He was in better shape, of course, but Benjamin was still technically recovering from his accident. The suit the agent was wearing probably cost more than Benjamin made in a week. He hated Hotchner for it. If Benjamin had fancy ass parents like the agent did, he could have ended up the exact same way. He deserved it. He didn't deserve to be living with a woman losing most of her teeth and two sons that did absolutely nothing to support the family.

"Why are we looking at them Ma?" Daniel asked.

"It's good to learn your enemies," she said quietly. "Let's get back home, and I'll fix you boys something warm to eat. Don't forget their faces," she told Benjamin.

He nodded, and watched the kid follow the darker agent into the car. Agent Hotchner was the last one in. Benjamin wondered what they thought about their little shout out on the bodies. He couldn't wait to meet the two agents personally, but he could wait. They had time. He started up the old truck, and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Since we have the day off, can we get another girl Ma?" Joseph asked hopefully.

"How's it sound to you Benjamin?" Laura asked. "Carving another name could really freak those agents out. They might just get scared and leave town." She put her hand on Daniel's head, and ruffled up his hair in a loving gesture. "They'll never talk to our boys again."

"If we do anymore carving, we're sticking to those names!" Benjamin nearly shouted.

His family got quiet, and the only sound left in the car was their breathing. Benjamin rolled down the driver's window just to get some more noise in the car. He didn't care how cold it was. They needed to respect his authority.

"If we start changing up names, it won't look like a threat. If we want to scare the hell out of these people, we need to concentrate on just two. Okay?" Benjamin said. "Anyway, I kinda like the way that Agent Reid looked. He's almost pretty enough to be a girl."

"Are we going to take them? I wanted another girl!" Joseph complained.

"We'll get another girl tonight," Benjamin said. "We'll take the agents if they don't go to hell. They'll probably leave before we get to that point, but if we have to take the two, the rest are goin scatter like roaches." Benjamin laughed at his own joke.

"But I wanted to meet Agent Hotchner. I haven't seen a man like that in years. His hair probably smells like that fancy shampoo from the malls," Laura said.

"Mom, stop grossing me out," Joseph moaned. "That's disgusting."

"We're always getting girls. We need more boys in the house," Laura argued.

"Well, isn't that bra from that girl last night a perfect fit?" Benjamin asked. He glanced at his wife's chest, and felt a slight firmness in his pants when he saw that she was actually getting a good lift. It had been so long since she had a really good bra.

"Fits perfect, but that don't mean I don't want myself some fun," Laura said. "Agent Hotchner probably knows how to treat a real lady."

"Probably married too," Joseph said laughing. "The skinny twirp looked like he was still a virgin!"

"A virgin? Really?" Laura's eyes lit up.

"Shut up, both of you!" Benjamin yelled. "We're only goin get the agents if they don't mind their own fucking business. Got it? After you boys have lunch, we're goin go out watchin the roads. Sound good?"

He looked at his sons. Joseph looked like he was eager to find a girl right then, but Daniel was looking away. That kid really was a strange boy. Benjamin never knew what that boy was thinking about, but he didn't care to really find out.

"Who wants Mac-N-Cheese for lunch?" Laura asked with a smile.

_just a warning that when things start getting bad in this story, they are going to be going downhill fast. its going to start getting scary. i do love my scary characters. and do remember 2 PLZ REVIEW! reviews let me know that u guys still really want to know what happens and it encourages me 2 write faster. thankies 4 reading and thankies 4 REVIEWING. till next time xoxo_


	6. Chapter 6

_u guys deserve this super fast update cuz of all the nice reviews i got on my last one. im keeping true 2 my word. my reviews does mean faster updates. just some warnings for u guys. i dont think there's much bad language in this chapter, but if there is any, watch out for benjamin lol. this chapter is more gruesome than the last one and its probably just going 2 get worse from here. so plz read and review and take my warnings lol_

Rossi wanted the entire town shut down, not just the roads. He didn't think it was safe anywhere in that place. People were still walking alone outside, even after the sheriff warned them not, and there was more than one unsub on the loose. The killings were getting closer together, and it wouldn't be soon before the unsubs started getting even more sadistic on their victims. Rossi was scared for Hotch and Reid. The rest of the team was leaning towards the idea of two unsubs, but Rossi was sure that there was at least three. It would be almost impossible to take down two people without one of them getting away. The people in this town didn't seem smart enough to create a genius scheme in which they worked together to get their victims. They didn't have brains. They just had numbers on their side.

"We can't leave Hotch or Reid alone," Rossi commented on the drive to the station. He was behind the wheel. Prentiss sat beside him. J.J. was right behind them in the car she came in, and she was followed by the rest of the team. The dark side was looming overhead. It looked like the black rain clouds were trying to tell Rossi that something bad was coming, but he already knew that. He could almost feel the evil living in this small town.

"Did you see how white Reid was out there? I think it has to be one of the students. I don't know if the kid is knowingly helping, but they saw Reid there. They saw Reid talking in the classroom, and they texted the unsub," Prentiss said.

"Do you think it could be the kid's parents?" Rossi asked. That did sound plausible. The kid is what lured the drivers to a stop. He was the reason they got out of the car, and that was when the unsubs attacked.

"How many classes did Reid talk today?" Prentiss asked.

"I think he talked to about two classrooms today with Morgan. Hotch talked to one," Rossi said from memory. He stopped at a red light, and looked at a few Thanksgiving decorations from the windows of shops. There wasn't that many. The whole place could pass as a ghost town if the people would stop walking around the streets. It gave Rossi chills.

"We need to get every single one of those students," Prentiss said. "The teachers can tell us which ones were texting, and we can go from there." She looked down at her phone for a second, but she looked back out the window. "Do you notice how the people walking keep staring at us?"

"Yeah," Rossi replied. "They're encouraging me never to move here."

"Not getting any complaints from me," Prentiss said smiling. "We could probably even get all the people here for a town meeting."

"And look for the one couple that's acting creepy? I think that would apply to every single person living here," Rossi said. "They must have had an amazing Halloween."

"Every day here is like Halloween. I'm sure Reid loves it," Prentiss said laughing.

Rossi parked the SUV right in front of the station, and waited for J.J. to pull up so they could walk inside together. Rossi was grateful for the warmth of the building, but he had to remind himself why he was there. As much as he wanted to curl up with a cup of hot chocolate, he had to get to work. The bodies were piling up. People should be afraid to leave their houses at night, and two of his team members were being targeted. He pulled up a chair in the conference room, and put his hands over his head to stop a headache from coming on.

J.J. was already standing in front of the board she created before the others got in. Rossi looked over the drawings she made, and saw how she circled on a map where the people went missing. Rossi would bet that the police would find their vehicles nearby. J.J. has also taped some photographs of women on the board. Their smiling faces broke Rossi's heart. These were the victims. Most of them looked like they were under 30 years old. They varied in skin and hair color, but they were all on the skinnier side. Rossi wasn't going to point out that Prentiss and J.J. could easily fall under this body type, but so could Reid.

"Most of these women traveled alone," J.J. began. "They were all coming from surrounding cities, but their families didn't hear from them after they entered this town. It was liked they crossed city lines, and they just disappeared. Most authorities have stopped searching for them because some have been missing for so long."

Rossi saw Hotch and the others enter out of the corner of his eye. Morgan sat down next to Prentiss, and Reid sat down in front of Rossi. Hotch chose to stand in a corner while J.J. talked. Rossi didn't really want Hotch or Reid to even leave the room. The team would be able to handle what was throw at them, but all of them knew that the unsubs wanted Reid and Hotch. They had already shown everyone what they could do, and Rossi didn't like it. He didn't want the boy sipping coffee in front of him to get hurt.

"I already asked a few officers if they could go looking around these areas to see if they can find a car," J.J. said. "Garcia told me that the first victim was either this girl," she said pointing to a blonde smiling on top of the board, "or the this girl." The second girl she pointed to had darker hair, but they were the same body type. "They were both 24 years old when they missing 12 years ago. The most recent victim besides Audrey is this girl," J.J. said acknowledging another photograph. This was of a pretty girl with smiling eyes. "Her name is Noel, and she went missing over a year ago."

"So the unsub did take a break," Rossi said.

"And he came back cutting off the entire face of the victims," Morgan added.

"Do you know if the unsub was working alone in the earlier murders?" Reid asked. "A different knife was used on Audrey's body.

"It could be a husband and wife team," J.J. said. "She could have been the murderer in the earlier victims, and the husband is the one who returned."

"I was telling Prentiss in the car that I think a kid could be working with them," Rossi said. "They use the kid to get the drivers to stop their cars. Once they are out of the car, the parents attack. The kid could even be helping."

"So it's either a two man team or a man and a woman, and they will probably have some kind of relationship with a high school student," Morgan concluded.

"They will be living together," Hotch concluded. "They take the victims to a secondary location such as their house or some kind of storage shed. A van or a truck is what they will be driving, and they have known each other for a very long time. At least one of them will be unemployed, but both of them will be able enough to murder their victims."

"They are going to go down fighting," Reid said. "Each victim we have seen has been worse than the last time, and they already know that the FBI is involved."

"They're challenging us," Morgan said.

"I think one of them is, but the other one is devolving. That knife he used went all the way back in that woman's skull. I think he is the more dangerous one," Reid replied.

"He's probably going to have notable changes in his behavior," Prentiss said.

"The other one is going to be more dominant," Rossi said. "It will be his idea to kidnap the victims. He probably doesn't even know what his buddy is going through."

"It's time to give the profile," Hotch told to J.J.

"We're going to need to get those roads blocked off," Rossi said.

* * *

><p>Joseph wiped some cheese off his mouth with his hand. He loved macaroni and cheese. It was perfect for a cold day at home. His pa had his fat ass glued to the couch, and his strange brother was just staring at the food in his bowl. How in the world did they have the same parents? He remembered when they were younger; all his teachers kept saying that he would stay back a grade, and that Daniel would eventually pass him. That didn't happen yet, but Daniel did move up a grade. Joseph hated school. He couldn't wait till he got out of it once and for all.<p>

"Can we go now Benjamin?" he called to his dad.

"Don't you dare call me by my first name boy!" his dad roared. "You want yourself a whipping?"

"Bring it on old man!" Joseph yelled right back.

"Don't fight boys!" his mom called from the kitchen. "Did you eat all your lunch Daniel?"

"He did Ma!" Joseph said before Daniel even looked away from his bowl. "Can we go? I want a hot girl to play with."

His mom came out from the kitchen with two sweaters. She wrapped a green one around Daniel, and gave him a kiss on the head. She crossed over to the other side of the table, and gave Joseph the blue one. He really loved his Ma. There wasn't a woman alive that could even compare to her. She never wanted her boys to play in the cold without a warm sweater.

"Be safe boys," she said smiling. She wasn't ashamed of her missing teeth, but she did despise any woman that had all of hers. "I'll go to the market today to pick up something good for dinner. Do you guys know how many your getting?"

"Depends what we find," Benjamin said zipping his jacket up. "Bet the girls won't be hungry. They never are."

"When you bring me back one of them nice agents, I'm going to show off my cooking. They both look like they needed to be fattened up. Especially that virgin one," she said laughing. "Bring back some pretty girls tonight. I want to play with their hair."

"Love you Ma," Daniel said kissing her on the cheek. Joseph followed his dad out to the truck, and they all piled in. Joseph made sure his weird brother got in the middle. He didn't want to have to sit next to his dad. Benjamin wasn't fond of bathing. He thought it took up to much time, and the result was an odor too foul to describe. Joseph kept his nose in the direction of the window. Anything could smell better than his dad.

"Why can't we take chicks from the town? There's a list a girls that I'd like to know a bit closer," Joseph said smiling.

"We've been through this," Benjamin said in a gruff voice. "Besides, you grew up with most these people. You really want to do this to them?"

"I don't mind. Most of them deserve it," Joseph said. "Every single one of them is guilty of something."

"You think you should be the one to punish sinners?" Daniel asked finally speaking up.

"Don't start preaching to us boy," Benjamin warned. "Not now. Got even of your Bible crap a year ago. We go to church on Christmas. That should be enough so shut your mouth."

"The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked," Daniel said from memory. Benjamin slapped him against the cheek, and Daniel quieted up again.

"I warned you boy. Can't say I didn't," Benjamin said.

Benjamin drove them to a different spot than before, but Joseph knew that he had to learn all of the different boundaries of the town. If they kept going to the same spot, the cops would catch on fast. Joseph still couldn't believe that his single action brought the FBI to town. Audrey wasn't even that popular. She wasn't the daughter of the mayor or anything. His Ma was just making it worse by having crushes on them like some stupid school girl.

They parked the truck at the start of the forest, and waited for another car to pull up. Joseph hoped it would be soon. The sun was setting faster every day, and it really was a long drive out there. Daniel had his mouth shut the whole time, and when Benjamin turned the engine off, Joseph was the first one to move. He hated being kept in one spot for too long. He jumped out of the truck, and looked around the creepy forest. He wondered what kind of animals lived in there, and how many of them could be considered dangerous. He was about to ask Daniel his super smart opinion, but his lame brother was still in the truck. He was wrapped up in the sweater, and his eyes were looking at his feet. There was no way in hell they were related.

Benjamin was looking at an ancient gun in the back of the truck when all three of them heard cars approaching from the town. Benjamin dropped the gun, and Joseph wandered closer to the truck. Two cop cars sped past them, and stopped at the border of the city. They got out of their vehicles, and started putting up "road closed" signs.

"What the hell are they doing?" Benjamin asked under his breath. "Daniel, go ask them what they're doing with them signs!"

Daniel didn't complain or argue as he slid out of the truck. He trotted over to the pigs, and Joseph exchanged a worry glance at his Pa while they talked. Maybe the roads were getting too icy or something. Daniel nodded politely at the cops, and then hurried back over.

"They said there's a murderer in this town," Daniel said. "He keeps killing people out of town so they are closing down the roads for now."

* * *

><p>Laura bundled up, and walked over to the store close to their house. It wasn't as fancy as the supermarket, but she just needed to pick up a few things. She stuck the candy bar in her pocket to eat on the way. She was sure all of the other shoppers would notice the lift her new bra gave her. She couldn't be more proud of her boys working together. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before they would have enough to buy a real Christmas tree that year. Daniel had wanted one since he was just a little boy, but they never had enough money to afford it.<p>

Laura crossed over the wide street, and walked down the lonely road near the forest. She took a bite of the chocolate treasure from her pocket, and walked with her chest up. She wondered what the girls would be tonight. She knew that Joseph wanted girls from the town. There were plenty of beautiful women living here, but she didn't like them taking high school girls. She always yelled at Benjamin whenever he brought home a girl that looked like she was still going through puberty. A girl in college would be alright, but no more girls in high school. She wanted them to bring home a lady with pretty hair. Laura never had a daughter, but she always wanted one. If hair decorations were cheap enough, she would get some for the girls.

It seemed like forever before she finally got to the store. She strolled through the sliding doors like a rich lady, but her heart stopped when she saw some of the agents. She hid behind some cards on display. This was her store. They needed to leave! She picked up one of the cards, as if pretending to buy it, but she peaked over at the agents. It was the woman with black hair, but her virgin boy was beside her. His name was Reid, she remembered. Agent Reid. He was taller than both of her boys with silky hair and a long torso. His pretty hair was long enough for her to play with as well, but she was interested in his hair. Her eyes ran down his stomach, but she couldn't find any familiar bulge in his pants. She would have to find that later when he was having dinner with her for the first time. She wished his strong friend was there, but it was only Reid with that woman. Laura hated that woman. She hated her ironed work pants and her pointy shoes. She hated how the woman with black hair got to talk to Reid, and she hated how that woman got paid to talk to store managers. Laura hated everything about that agent.

Laura threw the card on the floor, and slowly moved closer to their conversation. She wanted to know what Reid's voice sounded like. She also wouldn't mind getting that woman's name. She would tell her husband that it would be okay to "accidently" kill her when taking Reid.

"Would it be possible to make an announcement over the loud speaker?" the woman was asking. "This is serious, and people need to know what's happening."

"You want me to tell them to use the buddy system because Michael Myers is on the loose?" the manager asked.

"Not those words exactly," Reid said with his gentle voice, "but something along those lines."

"This isn't funny," the woman said. "This is for your protection too sir. Just make a quick announcement that people should avoid going out at night, and to travel together."

"Fine, fine," the manager grumbled. "Give me a minute. I'll have the bagger boy do it. Now, where did that kid get off to?" The manager walked over to the cashiers, and left the agents to themselves.

"He was sure the friendly one," the woman told Reid.

"Most of them are like that in this town," Reid said. "I don't think they don't like outsiders. We're considered outsiders Prentiss." Reid smiled at her, and Laura hated Prentiss more. The other agent probably smiled at her like that too. Were they all sleeping together? They would have some expensive meal at an Italian restaurant and return to their hotel for some massive orgy. She was sure of it.

"We should bring Morgan back one of those cuddly bunnies over there," Prentiss said laughing.

"I'd rather have it shipped to his house directly," Reid said looking at the bunnies. "I don't want to be around when he explodes."

Both of them laughed, but stopped when they heard the loud speaker come on. A boy who sounded like his voice was still changing made the announcement that they asked for. Laura saw the people around her whispering as the boy was talking. It was a curious thing for a murderer to be living in town, but Laura knew her boys weren't bad people. This was all just good fun. The agents left after the announcement, and Laura's eyes followed them to their black SUV. The woman got in the driving seat, and Reid sat down next to her. He buckled himself right after he shut the door, and they drove off. Laura took the last bite of her candy bar, and shoved it deep in her mouth. She would make sure that Prentiss woman never saw Reid again.

* * *

><p>Benjamin drove as fast as the old truck would let him go to another entry to the town. He couldn't believe what was happening. How dare they block off the roads? What gave them that right? They weren't better than anyone else. What if he wanted to take his sons on a hunting trip over in another city? Did they have the authority to tell him to go to hell? He was going to bring home a woman that night, and not one pig was going to stop him. He slammed on his breaks when they got to another entry point. They were going to wait there all night if they had to. There wasn't a cop car in sight. They had time.<p>

"Told you we should get a girl in town," Joseph mumbled.

"Shut up!" Benjamin yelled. "Shut your mouth!"

Benjamin got out of the truck, and slammed the door behind him. They were going to have to eventually take the agents. That was the only way to make stop them stop acting like idiots. Taking one of their own would make them back off. He still needed teach his boys about to handle male victims. They were different than women were, and they needed to know how to behave. It would be good for them. His sons stayed put in their room with the woman the last time. He would let them test out their strengths on the younger agent first. He wanted the older man all to himself. When he had his fill of them, then he would let his wife have her fun.

"They are going to block off this road eventually," Daniel said in a whisper. The rolled down window was the only way he could hear his boy.

"Aren't you the cheerful one?" Benjamin snapped back.

"I'm getting out," Joseph told them. Benjamin watched his older son get out the other side of the vehicle and head over the forest trees. Daniel stayed put in the car. Benjamin let out a loud sigh so both his boys would hear it, and he leaned up against the back of the truck. He was willing to wait there all night. He was going to get a woman. Joseph sat down by one of the big trees, and Daniel had his sweater wrapped around his chest like a blanket.

"Ma's going to be waiting for us," Joseph called out after only a few minutes of waiting. "She's not goin like it if you get her precious babies sick. Wouldn't it be awful if we couldn't go to school tomorrow?"

"Wanna get yourself a whipping boy?" Benjamin yelled out. "That's where you're headed if you don't shut your mouth!" Benjamin circled around the car to show that his threat was real. He wasn't afraid of whipping his boys if the brats needed it.

"There's a car coming," Daniel said loudly.

Benjamin turned around, and saw a little red car coming up in the distance. Daniel had terrific hearing. That was a useful skill to have. He needed to remember that.

"Get in front of the car boys! Now!" Daniel scrambled out of the truck, and Joseph ran out from the tree he liked. They huddled together as if they were cold, and Joseph even had his arm wrapped around his younger boy. They couldn't look more pathetic if they tried. Benjamin took his place at the side of the road with his thumb extended. The car pulled over just about a minute later. It stopped across from them, and Benjamin shot a big smile at his sons.

Two young women got out of the car, and they walked right over to Benjamin. They didn't look afraid at all. The one driving had olive skin with brown hair and matching brown eyes. She was on the chubbier side which Benjamin didn't like at all. Her friend was slimmer with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes. Benjamin wanted to play with that one.

"You guys alright?" the chubby woman asked.

"Car problems," Benjamin said. "We don't got one of them cell phones, and my kids are gettin kinda cold out here."

"Do you need a lift?" she asked. "My name is Donna, and my friend is Robin."

Robin was circling around to the front of the truck to look at the boys. Benjamin glanced at them, and hoped that they got his signal. He pounced on the Hispanic woman, and she gasped loudly from fright. He punched her on the side of her skull at least three times. He lost count after the first one. He only stopped when he was out of breath. He looked down at her, and saw that she was unconscious. He stood up to see what his boys had done, and was glad to see the strawberry blonde lying in the street. He was raising his boys well.

* * *

><p>Reid wanted to leave the town. He felt more afraid of the people living in the town that having his name carved in a corpse. He knew they were staring at every move he made when he was away from the safety of the police station. He read about places like this in books, but he had never witnessed it firsthand. He was sure that the people were even related to each other in some way, and their pathetic attempts at Thanksgiving decorations were making him uneasy.<p>

"I think they forgot Halloween is over," Prentiss said to relieve the unnerving silence in the car.

"Telling me that we don't belong is an understatement," Reid said.

"Well, we'll leave as soon as we find the unsubs. Then, the people here can go back to living safe in their creepy little town. Think all the roads are blocked off yet?"

"Probably. Rossi really wanted that done, didn't he?"

"He's probably hoping to trap them," Prentiss said. "I still think it's a good idea to hold a town meeting. If one of the unsubs is acting strangely, it should be pretty easy to pick him out. Don't you think?"

"We should probably be staking out where the bodies were first discovered," Reid said getting lost in his thoughts. "There's a good chance that at least one of them will come back. They probably even live in one of the houses near the forest. There's not that many." Reid felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and pulled it out before Prentiss could answer.

"Reid," he said into the phone.

"And how is the good doctor doing on this fine day?" a sweet voice said to him.

"I'll put you on speaker," he told Garcia. "Prentiss is here in the car with me."

"And how come you two never call?" Garcia asked. "I haven't from you guys in close to forever. Do you know how it feels to be forgotten by all who once loved you?"

"Did you have more coffee than Reid today?" Prentiss asked with a smile. "You sound more hyped up than usual."

"I've been sitting in this office by myself for close to three days. How am I supposed to feel? It wouldn't be so bad if you guys sent me cards, but I don't even get that. I hate it when you guys go off to the middle of nowhere, and J.J. only makes it worse by telling me what happened to those poor people!"

"Could you find out if anyone here has a criminal record?" Reid asked her. He texted her the question earlier while they were at the supermarket.

"Most the people living there are like uber clean, like not even a traffic ticket, but there is this one gentlemen that I found," Garcia said. "His name is Travis Wilder. He doesn't look like the kind of guy I'd invite to my next birthday party. I'm sending his picture your way."

"What was his crime?" Prentiss asked.

"Lots of petty stuff, but it looks like he lit someone's house on fire a while back. No people were hurt, but it looks like a poor dog was inside when it happened. The doggy didn't make it. That's so sad. Mr. Wilder is currently unemployed, and he's got no living relatives. I have an address, but that's pretty much all the information I have on him. If you want me to dig deeper, give me the word. I can probably find out what his very first word was if you give five minutes," Garcia said with a giggle.

"Do you know if he is living with anyone?" Prentiss asked.

"His first word was," Garcia stopped in mid sentence. "Oh, does he live with someone? Um, it doesn't say here, but give me a few minutes and I'll find out for sure."

"Thanks Garcia," Reid said.

"The goddess of all technology, futuristic and otherwise, is out," Garcia announced. Reid heard the phone click off, and he stuck his back in his pocket.

"This guy sounds promising," Prentiss said. "We should tell Hotch. He's going to want to get this guy checked out."

"I'll call him," Reid said. There was a good possibility that this was the man behind all of the murders. The address that Garcia sent him did put his house right by the woods. He was probably considered an outsider by those living in the town, and he would have the solitude that he needed to go through with the murders.

"I'm going to ask the people at this store coming up if they've heard of him. Maybe they can tell us if he lives with someone," Prentiss said.

Reid nodded at her, and put the phone up to his ear. Travis was a good possibility of being the unsub, but most of the people living here didn't have close neighbors. The houses were spread far apart, and a few people even lived in the forest. Reid was going to have Garcia look up the history of the students at the school. There wasn't that many, and he was positive that one of them was involved somehow.

"It's going to rain," Prentiss added.

Reid saw the dark skies, and the clouds that were hovering over the small businesses. It was going to rain. He just hoped that wasn't a bad omen of some kind. People who lived in the ancient world thought that too much rain, or too little, was a bad sign from the gods. It was a sign of death.

* * *

><p>Daniel helped Joseph carry Donna inside. She was a lot heavier than the other one was, and their Pa already claimed the skinny one. Daniel was out of breath by the time they got her to one of the chairs. He got the ropes out while Joseph took off her shoes and socks. He tied the rope tightly around her ankles and wrists. He was getting better at it, but he had to remember not to tie it too tight. Donna's nails were painted light pink, and she had a band aid wrapped around one of her fingers. Daniel removed the band aid to see what happened. A small scratch was across the top of the finger, but it didn't look too bad. Daniel touched her, and he could still feel where the flesh was ripped.<p>

"Laura!" Pa shouted. "Where the hell are you woman?"

Ma emerged from the back bedroom, but she wasn't in her normal happy-go-lucky mood. Her mouth was curled into a thin line, and there were wrinkles above her brow. Maybe she already knew about the police blocking off the roads. Daniel was hungry again though. He wasn't concerned about the police or the FBI. He got up away from Donna, and wandered into the kitchen to see if there was anything more to eat.

"Did you know the FBI are making announcements at the stores?" Laura yelled at him.

"Well, did you know the police are shutting down the roads that lead away from town?" Pa asked right back.

Laura walked over to the unconscious women, and picked up Robin's hair with mild curiosity. She looked angry. She dropped the hair back down and glanced over at Donna.

"What are you goin do about that then?" she asked.

"Let me think about that later," Pa said. "Don't be yellin now in front of the boys. They did good today."

"I saw two of them agents. It was the virgin boy and the rich lookin lady with the black hair. Her name is Prentiss. Not sure if that's a first or last name, but that's what the boy was callin her." She unbuttoned the long sleeve shirt that Robin was wearing, and rubbed her hands all over the woman's stomach. "We gotta do some more carving tonight boys."

"But I thought we was goin play with the girls tonight!" Joseph complained. Daniel thought that his brother wasn't even listening. He was on the couch watching some talk show, but he was listening. Daniel settled on a glass of water. They never had any snacks.

"You can!" Laura said. "Play with them, but I want this carvin done by tonight. Hotchner and Reid. I'll do it. Seems like I'm the only one in this family who can spell. The longer name goes in the chubby girl. She got more room," Laura said smiling.

"Where's that fancy dinner you promised us?" Pa asked.

"I'll make it for tomorrow. Got myself too worked up today. You guys can make something little tonight. I wanna go rest up so I can do some carving tonight."

"Does that mean we get to start taking people from the town?" Joseph asked. He hopped off the couch and went over to the kitchen. Daniel could do without eating that night.

"You have my blessing," Ma told them. "Get some woman tomorrow that people know, and if the agents don't get the hint and leave, then we'll take them. Sound good?"

"If we can get a hot girl," Joseph said. "This fat girl isn't working for me."

"I'll take her," Daniel said suddenly. He walked out of the kitchen and back over to Donna. She was still out of it, but her breathing was steady. He held up a knife that he found in the kitchen, and brought it up to her head. In one swift movement, he buried the weapon deep into the side of her head. Her eyes shot open for an instant when the blade found her skull, but that just made him push harder. It wasn't easy. The bone was hard, and the knife wasn't as sharp as he wished it to be, but it got the job done. It was deep in her head, and he didn't really want to take it out again. He hoped he wasn't getting as lazy as his dad.

He looked up when he didn't hear his family talking. They were staring at him. He looked back down at Donna to make sure she was dead. Her eyes were still wide open, but she wasn't moving. A bloody hole was the only thing left of what used to be her left ear. He would need help getting the knife back out, but she was definitely dead.

"I'll put her on my bed to get the skin off her face," he said. "I'm not hungry. I have homework due anyway. There's a test tomorrow."

_isnt daniel something special? i dont know if thats the right word but he gives me chills just writing about him. which unsub do u guys think is the scariest? poor hotch and reid. they really dont know whats coming but yay for scary and dark stories. and remember, more reviews=faster updates. the review button is right under this and it only takes a minute 2 review. xoxo_


	7. Chapter 7

_so i am super sorry for this HUGE delay. its all my bad lol. 6 months after my dog drown in the pool, i find out that my other dog has cancer that already spread to her lungs. and she was my best friend so im flipping out of course. writing was the last thing on my mind. she was doing alright. she was even going to be a witch for halloween this year but she stopped taking her medicine. i lost her 3 weeks ago today. ill love her forever and i think about her every day. =( well, enjoy this new chapter. ill try to work on the next one right away because the next one will be the exciting one. three abductions in one chapter. yay! _

Hotch woke up before dawn. He never really had trouble sleeping before, but he was having trouble getting the body with his name carved into it out of his mind. He took a quick shower that morning, but he was planning out his day instead of concentrating on getting himself clean. He wanted to look more into the strange man that Reid and Prentiss told him about yesterday, but he needed to keep Reid safe. It was his job to keep his agents safe, and Reid's name had also been carved into a corpse. If it was up to him, Reid would be on the next plane out of there. Reid was still a kid who doubted his own ability with a weapon. The unsubs they were dealing with were becoming more violent by the minute. They knew that the FBI were in town, and they didn't like it. Hotch wasn't afraid of them finding him. In fact, he was ready for it. He just didn't want them anywhere near Reid. The kid never quite healed from the Henkle case. He wasn't up for this.

Hotch grabbed a coffee from downstairs, and went outside to wait for the rest of the team to wake up. It was still early, and they needed to rest up to be ready for the long day ahead. The sky was already making ready for the sun to rise in the east, and the hot coffee was wonderful against Hotch's cold mouth. He could see his breath in the morning air, and he knew that his nose would be turning red if he stayed out there any longer than a few minutes. He took another sip of his coffee, and circled around to the side of the building. A few little shops were getting ready, but it was still too early to see any children walking to school. He would have to ask around to see if anyone else knew something about the man who lived by himself by the forest. He would send Reid with Morgan to look at the students who were texting that day. He was convinced that one of them did text the unsub. He was preparing himself to find out that a student was one of the unsubs, and that it was the parent of the unsub who had committed the earlier murders.

He turned to go back into the warmth of the old hotel when he saw something out of ordinary. It looked like a foot was sticking out from one of the dumpsters. Hotch pulled his gun out of its holster out of instinct, and approached the foot on the ground with caution.

"FBI!" he shouted, but he knew that no one would answer. The pale foot on the street wasn't going to move. Hotch kept his gun in front of him as he went to the dumpsters. His heart was pounding against his chest even though he knew what he was going to find. In between the dumpsters behind the hotel, Hotch found two corpses. Both were female, and both of them were missing the skin off their face and most of their hair. They were nude just like the others, and Hotch had the honor of seeing his name carved into one of the bodies. They were positioned holding hands with their legs wide spread. The one that held Hotch's name in her stomach was killed by having her throat slit. Hotch couldn't immediately tell what killed the other one, but he was more concerned about the message the unsubs left him. He put his gun back in its place, and bent down closer to the bodies. Underneath Hotch's name was another word, but it was made with little care so it was harder to read. It said "come". Underneath Reid's name in the other body, it said "play".

"Oh my God," a voice said quietly behind him. Hotch got back to his feet, and saw Rossi standing a few feet from the corpses.

"I didn't know you were up," Hotch said simply.

"I've worked with you for too long," Rossi said. "I heard you get up, and I would have had to been deaf to not hear you shouting out here. The unsubs are getting more daring, aren't they?"

"They know where we are staying," Hotch said looking back at Reid's name. He wanted the kid out of there.

"Look at this," Rossi said. He bent down close to the smaller of the two girls, and leaned close to the head. "There's a hole where her ear used to be. They stuck a knife or something right into her ear."

"Probably the same one who stabbed the other girl in the eye," Hotch commented.

"Any theories on why the bodies were positioned like this?" Rossi asked getting up.

It was very eerie with the corpses being made to hold hands with each other. The legs were spread wider than the previous ones were, and it almost looked like the smaller girl had her hair recently brushed. It was hard to tell though because she didn't have much hair left. Their faces were turned towards one another, and their mouths were hanging open. The strawberry blonde had several bruises over her thighs and lower stomach, but the darker girl didn't have a single one. Why were they tougher with the smaller girl?

"They really are challenging us," Hotch said after a moment of silence. "I don't know why they are holding hands, but the message they left us is clear. I want to talk to a few more people to see what they have to say about this Travis fellow, but when we do go to his place, I don't want Reid there. He needs to stay at the police station."

"Hotch, it might be hard to see, but they also called you out by name," Rossi pointed out. "I don't think they like any of us, but they are after you and Reid. It's not safe for either one of you."

"I'm ready for them," Hotch said with confidence. "The sooner we catch them, the sooner the people who live here can sleep."

"Do you think these girls came from the town?" Rossi asked.

"I don't know," Hotch said. "I don't recognize them, but we haven't seen everyone from the town yet. I'm going to send Reid to the school with Morgan and J.J. to check out the kids who were caught texting. You will be coming with me and Prentiss to find out more about this Travis guy."

"I'll go wake them up," Rossi said. "I'm sure they'll want to see the bodies before the police get here."

Rossi left, and Hotch stayed behind to call the sheriff. He didn't really want Reid seeing the beaten up corpse with his name carved into its stomach, but he didn't have a choice. Reid was an adult, and he was part of this team. Hotch failed Reid once. He wasn't going to let that happen again. He was going to keep his team safe and catch the sadistic unsubs if that was the last thing he did.

* * *

><p>Benjamin stayed in his parked truck while the older of the two agents fled back into the hotel. He assumed the agent was going to get the others. Laura wanted Hotchner and Reid by as early as that night, but it wouldn't be as easy as getting two idiot girls off the road. Benjamin might never have gotten a diploma, but he wasn't stupid. Two men that worked for the government would be armed, and they would know how to deal with people like him. Benjamin did have a pistol, but he ran out of bullets for it several years ago so it was basically useless. He might be able to trick them into thinking it was a loaded gun, but he needed to get them alone first.<p>

The older agent led the others back outside, and Benjamin easily spotted Reid out of the bunch. He was the youngest one. He would probably be the easiest one to take. He didn't look like he weighed that much, and Benjamin was positive that he would be out of it with a single punch to the head. Hotchner would be more difficult, but the biggest challenge was getting both of them alone. Benjamin hated to admit, even to himself, that he had no ideas on how that would happen. It was amusing to see the looks on their faces while they admired his wife's handiwork. The skinny dork lost all the color in his face, and the others seemed to step in front of him out of instinct alone. They were going to protect this kid to no end.

He turned the heat back on in his truck, and headed home. It might be possible to use his boys as a distraction. He turned his truck around, and that's when he noticed the black SUV parked in the parking lot. Several years ago, he ended up running some woman off the road. She wouldn't stop to see why he was pulled over, and that just pissed him off. He chased down that chick until she crashed her car. She didn't survive the wreck, but she deserved it. He was younger and foolish when it happened. He was sure that he could do it again, and make sure that the victims would still be alive after the crash. The boy was standing off from his group with a cell phone glued to his ear. Benjamin would take him first. He didn't live that far from the hotel, and he was pulling up to his run down house just as his wife was shutting the front door. She usually liked to have the front door open, but it was getting so cold lately. She wouldn't be able to open it again until after the winter season. Benjamin always loved the winter. There was more chance to find pretty women driving through the town to visit relatives. Christmas really was his favorite time of year.

He parked the truck near the front door, and wrapped his jacket around him as he went inside. It was still freezing outside. The only downfall of the weather is that less people would be walking around. If it actually came to the point when they needed to take people from the town, it would be difficult if everyone wanted to stay inside drinking hot chocolate. His wife was busy doing some kind of crap in the kitchen, and his two boys were getting ready for school. Benjamin debated asking where Daniel kept fatty's body last night, but he decided against it. When everyone woke up early that morning, the bodies were both ready. Benjamin didn't really care who skinned her, and if Laura really carved the names without any help. Benjamin just liked delivering the bodies to the scared FBI agents. He opened the fridge to look for a beer when his wife snuck up behind him.

"There you are! What took ya so long?" she demanded.

"I just wanted to make sure they found the bodies. The Hotch fellow found them first, and then the rest flocked outside like sheep. We will definitely take them tonight."

"You got a plan, don't you?" Laura asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"Car accident," he told her plainly. He looked back in the fridge to find a beer. He normally didn't drink in the morning, but he felt like he deserved it for a job well done.

"You want to crash their car?"

"You heard me," he said. He found the beer, and grabbed it. God knew how much he loved his beer.

"You want to risk killing them before we even get them back?"she asked. Why did women always have to nag? Always!

"They ain't goin die," he mumbled. He opened the cold beer, and poured some of the miraculous liquid down his throat.

"So your plan is to crash them into some tree and pray to God they don't break their necks? Sounds like a brilliant plan Einstein, and stop drinking! You wanna get yourself even fatter?"

"I do what I want with my body. You can kill unborn babies with yours and I can put wasted in calories in mine so cool it. You keep nagging and I ain't goin bring back that skinny agent dude."

"How you goin make sure the right ones are in the car?"

"Me and the boys are goin make a distraction. We get somebody from the town which sends them away from their happy hotel rooms, and I'll be right there waiting."

"I am going to kill you if something happens to either one of those agents. I want them in tact when they get here, and I don't know if that'll happen if you want to run them off the road. We are goin need the Lord on our side. After the boys leave for school, we is goin to church."

"No deal!" Benjamin shouted. He hated church, and Laura was always wanting to go. He was fine with the holidays, but even that was pushing it.

"We're goin," Laura said. "Change up. We gotta look nice. You boys almost ready?" she shouted towards the bedrooms.

"Yes Ma!" Joseph shouted back.

"Hurry yourselves up. You don't wanna be late!" Laura yelled. "And you mister," she said pointing at Benjamin, "change your shirt. Looks like you gotta blood stain on this one."

He cursed under his breath as she walked away. He hated changing shirts, and he hated listening to some man preach for an hour about a book that was written forever ago. He'd rather go to school with the boys. At least he would be able to look for a pretty girl there. If Laura was going to get the two agents, he wanted a woman for himself. A student could work. He just needed someone who would attract enough attention to get the agents looking into it.

"Stop standin there waiting for Easter and change that shirt!" Laura hollered.

"Fine woman! You're really pushing my buttons. You know that?" he replied. He took his jacket off, and pulled the shirt over his head in the kitchen. He just wondered if he had any clean shirts to wear. He couldn't remember the last time Laura did the clothes.

* * *

><p>Daniel didn't sleep that night. He was never that great of a sleeper, but the soft rain outside his bedroom window was what kept him awake. He kept Donna's body underneath his bed while Audrey stayed with his parents. She stopped screaming a little after two in the morning, but he guessed she wasn't killed until close to dawn. The blood around her throat was still wet when he woke up. He threw an old pair of jeans on, and dragged the corpse out from his room so he could eat his breakfast. The skin was neatly taken off her face, without any help from his brother, and Daniel was becoming proud of his new skill. Pa was still fast asleep in the bedroom while he ate his breakfast. He ate a small bowl of cereal while his Ma worked on carving out the two names, but he got a late start on walking to school. Joseph kept wanting to go into the stores to steal some candy for lunch, and Daniel, being the loyal brother he was, always waited. He was nearly late for his first class that morning.<p>

Miss Parker collected their homework before she took role, but Daniel could barely keep his eyes open. He couldn't remember being so tired. He didn't hear a single word from the lecture.

"Hey guys, looks like somebody wants to join the Twilight cast!" Freddy joked from the back of the room. "Oh boys, look! He sparkles!" Several snickers and high fives erupted from the bigger boys, but Daniel took no notice. He was used to their taunts.

"So tell me," Freddy said leaning in closer. "Your Ma lose any more teeth lately?"

"Shut up," Daniel said under his breath. He didn't want to be heard by the teacher. Unlike Freddy, he didn't like detention.

"Guess your old Ma can't keep track of her teeth when she's too busy keepin you and your lover brother apart. Right? Am I right?"

Daniel tried to think about something else. He tried copying the words on the board into his notebook, but his eyes wouldn't focus when the other kids kept laughing behind him. He didn't even know what the lecture was about. The room felt like it was spinning, and all he could hear was Freddy's foul voice jeering at him.

"Heard the fat bitch is pregnant again," Freddy continued. "Is this one yours? Whatcha goin name it? Incestual?"

Daniel didn't have time to stand up. His hand formed into a tight fist, and he swung it as hard as he could right into Freddy's mouth. He was sure that if he had been stronger, he would have gotten a tooth out. All the same, Freddy's reaction was priceless. His head swung back towards his desk all the blood squirted out. He made some kind of howling sound as he brought his hands to his mouth. It wasn't quite a scream, but it was close enough to make Daniel smile. His eyes were wide in terror, and all smiles had disappeared from his friend's faces. He was sure that it was quite a shock to see a skinny dweeb like him deliver that kind of punch, but he didn't like everyone staring at him.

The morning would have gone perfectly if no one else witnessed his dead on punch, but the entire class had gone silent. Even the teacher was standing there with a look of shock written upon her face. She was the first one to act. She grabbed some tissues from her desk, and made her way through the desks to reach Freddy and Daniel.

"Open your mouth Freddy," she instructed. "Open up!"

Freddy reluctantly opened up his mouth, and Miss Parker looked around for a second. She handed him the tissues, and glanced at Daniel. He did not return her look.

"Doesn't look like you lost any teeth," she told him. "Go check in with the nurse though, just to be safe. When you're done, get back in here. We need to have a little talk about your constant disruptions in this class."

The rest of the class bursted out in laughter as Freddy ran out. It was hilarious to see a big, bad boy freak out over a little bit of blood. Daniel didn't laugh though.

"What's so funny?" Miss Parker yelled out. "What?"

The bell rang just as the class quieted down. They packed up their bags, and mumbled about homework due in the next period, but Daniel stayed put. He knew he was in trouble. Miss Parker looked at him, but they didn't exchange any words until the classroom was empty except for them. He stayed put in his chair, and she leaned against her desk.

"What's going on?" she finally asked. "Is it those guys? I know they like to pick on you."

"No," Daniel said quietly. It wasn't any of her business.

"Then what's happening at home?" she asked. She walked up to him, and sat down in the desk beside him. "You look like you're getting sick. Is it your dad?"

"What does it matter?" Daniel shouted.

"You failed your last test," she said quietly. "I won't get the principal involved in your fight today because I know that Freddy started it. Please talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about!"

"Then why didn't you study for that test? I thought this was your favorite subject."

"I don't know," he said quietly. He shouldn't have been yelling at her. This wasn't her fault.

"Is it your brother?" Her eyes never left his face. He wouldn't look at her, but she knew he was staring. He wished she didn't want to talk to him. He didn't like talking.

"Nah, he's fine," Daniel told her.

"We took that test right around they found Audrey's body," Miss Parker said. "I didn't think you ever talked to her in class."

"I didn't," Daniel admitted. "I didn't know her. I don't feel good."

"Are you sick?" she asked quickly. She put one of her hands on his forehead, and he finally looked at her eyes. She was one of the women that his mother hated. Her complexion was clear, none of her teeth were missing, and it looked like she bought her clothes in a store other than Goodwill or Wal-Mart.

"No," he said. He wanted to tell her about the bodies outside the hotel, and he wanted to tell her that his Pa liked to beat him and his brother whenever he was drunk. He wanted to tell her that his feet sometimes changed colors due to the cold at night, and that he was close to begging on the streets for a new pair of socks. He wanted to tell her everything, but he couldn't. She wouldn't understand.

"You're burning up," she told him. "I think you need to see the nurse."

"I'm fine!" he yelled. He grabbed his backpack, and ran out of the room. He hid behind one of the rows of lockers to catch his breath. Freddy was just coming out of the nurse's office. If anyone asked him, he probably would have told them that he was fighting some epic battle of good versus evil. He would never tell them he was attacked by a skinny nerd.

"Get that gum out of your mouth Freddy!" he heard Parker shout at him. "Now!"

Daniel peaked out, and saw Freddy stick the gum on the underside of his notebook. He probably would have stuck it onto a locker, but the teacher was standing right there. He looked like he was getting ready to face the executioner. Daniel couldn't blame him. Nobody wanted a detention with Miss Parker.

"Why you hiding here?" a voice said behind him. He didn't need to turn around. He knew it was his brother.

"Teacher wanted to talk to me," Daniel said. "I punched another student."

"Hey, congratulations!" Joseph said laughing. He patted Daniel hardly on the back. He wasn't worried about being heard. Parker and Freddy were already back in the classroom.

"Why are you here?" Daniel asked. He turned around, and watched Joseph break into one of the lockers.

"Don't like Math," he said. "But I do like boobies!" he said laughing. He pulled out a pink bra from the locker, and pretended to try it on. "Think this will fit Ma?"

"How should I know?" Daniel asked. He didn't care. He wanted to be in his next class.

"Hey look, this chick's got money in here!" Joseph exclaimed. He pulled out several ones, and stuffed them in his pocket without thinking twice. "The old man did say we're getting girls from the town this time. Right?"

"I think so," Daniel said. "I'm going to class."

"Lame!" Joseph shouted after him.

Daniel put his hands in his pockets, and walked the memorized route to his second class. Pa never told him how the agents looked when they discovered the bodies, but Daniel could imagine it was a look of horror. He put a hand to his forehead before he opened the door to Chemistry, and he was burning up. Miss Parker was right. He didn't care that he was getting sick. They didn't take vitamins at his house, and they never had money to go to the doctor so there was no point in telling anyone that he might have a fever. It would have to go away on its own.

* * *

><p>Rossi knew that all of them would feel much safer if Reid was safe in the police station surrounded by many officers. Rossi wasn't there when Reid was abducted a few years before, but he heard enough to know that none of them wanted that to happen ever again. They watched Morgan pull out of the hotel parking lot with Reid and J.J. Rossi was sure that the unsubs were near, and he wanted J.J. to give a conference that night. He was ready to give it himself. The man that they were going to meet, Travis, did seem like an obvious person to talk to. He did live in the forest, and he was all by himself. The people of the town disliked him, and nobody seemed to know much about him, but it seemed too perfect. Most people suffering from schizophrenia were not dangerous. People who had to live with mental illness were usually perceived as psychopaths who have a thirst for blood which couldn't be further from the truth. Most of them lived, or tried to live, normal lives. It was only the dangerous ones that made the news.<p>

"So did we find anything else about this guy last night?" Prentiss asked after Hotch started up the car. Rossi sat next to him, and Prentiss got the back seat. It was warm in the car, but there was no mistaking how cold it was outside. The town probably looked like a fairy tale around Christmas time. Rossi would have loved to live there if there weren't so many crazy rednecks. Most of the people who talked to Rossi weren't thrilled to have him there, and he was surprised whenever one of them spoke proper English.

"He has schizophrenia," Hotch said immediately.

"And no one in the town likes him," Rossi followed. "We know where he lives, and that pretty much covers what we know about him. Garcia said she was having a hard time getting information on him, but she's still working on it."

Rossi kept his eyes looking out the window. He was positive that the unsubs were nearby. They were calling Hotch and Reid out by name, and they knew where the agents were staying. Rossi knew unsubs like this before. They liked to keep a close watch on the authorities and on their possible prey. One of them was probably in his late 30s to early 50s, and he would have lived in this town his entire life. Rossi was positive that he didn't have a job. Rossi still was guessing that the second unsub would be a younger man, but he couldn't pinpoint an exact age yet. He knew that Prentiss thought the guy might still be in school, but Rossi didn't want to jump to conclusions. It could be a father-son type of deal or it could be two brothers. The only thing Rossi was sure of was that these two men would be close, and that one of them was devolving a lot faster than the other one. He would soon be a danger to himself and the other unsub.

"What's on your mind Rossi?" Hotch asked. Hotch always knew when Rossi was getting lost in his thoughts. There were barely any people walking outside, but Rossi looked at every single one of them. He was getting a bad feeling inside.

"I think the unsub is nearby," Rossi said. "He's been watching us for a while. I just can't put my finger on where he is."

"We need that press conference tonight," Hotch replied.

"You don't think Travis will have anything to do with it?" Prentiss asked.

"I don't know yet," Hotch said as he turned down onto a dirt road. "We need to be on our feet. It doesn't look like has any neighbors, and he doesn't have a very good reputation."

The car ride got quiet after that. Rossi knew that Prentiss was worried, but Rossi was more concerned about Hotch. These unsubs weren't playing around. They meant business, and Hotch was the only one in the car that they wanted. Hotch had always been willing to sacrifice himself to save others, but no one wanted Hotch to be killed. They were going to stick together, and Rossi was going to put himself in front to make sure Hotch would be able to go home to see his little boy again. It was already after noon, and the sun was hiding behind black clouds. It would be late by the time they reached this man's house, and Rossi was already feeling tense.

* * *

><p>Reid wasn't hungry by lunch time that day. He tried to make himself eat just to make sure that Morgan and J.J. weren't on his back about it, but he wasn't hungry at all. They got the list of names of students that were texting the day the bodies were found, but the list wasn't that long. Students were getting more skilled and more creative with how to play on their cells during class, and it was rare that they were caught these days. The list of students wouldn't be of any help to them. If one of the unsubs did go to school there, he wouldn't be caught texting during class. He was smarter than that.<p>

"You guys still think the other unsub is a student?" J.J. asked. They were having a small lunch in the cafeteria where they were able to watch all the students come and go. Reid tried looking for that one student who was giving him the evil eye the other day, but he couldn't spot him.

"Did you know that 26% of serial killers start out in their teens? That doesn't seem like that high of a number, but seeing as this is a small town," Reid started. He stopped when he saw Morgan rolling his eyes. "Yes, I do think that one of the unsubs could be a student. The killings stopped for a while, but they started up again with a body that doesn't quite fit the previous ones. The original killer's son is going through puberty, and he is aware of what his father used to do so he wants to experiment with it himself."

"Maybe it would be a good idea then to interview the teachers after school. They would be able to tell us which students are acting out of the ordinary," J.J. said.

School would be letting out soon, and it did sound like a good idea to talk to the teachers. Sometimes the teachers knew more about certain kids than the parents did. Parents work, go out, and get involved with other projects so it could be harder for them to know what their child is up to. Teachers, on the other hand, see the kids every single day. If the teacher actually enjoys the job and cares about the students, they would be able to know if something was up.

"Yeah, I'm sure we could even talk to some of the teachers now," Morgan said. "Not all of them teach at the same time."

Reid looked at all of the kids eating lunch, and it was hard not to think back to his own days in high school. He hadn't even started puberty yet. He was the mocking point of every single joke that the other kids told, and he didn't have many friends. He still remembered in perfect detail the day that the prettiest girl in school told him that she liked him. Reid took a deep breath to clear his head. He couldn't be thinking about his past right now. He was on a case and he needed to concentrate. The kid he saw from earlier wasn't in the cafeteria. He saw the jocks, cheerleaders, geeks, punks, and nerds. No one was sticking out to him. The geeks were even all talking to each other. No one seemed left out of any conversation.

"Are you guys the FBI agents?" a pretty blonde girl asked. Reid looked up, and saw a blonde girl with a group of friends all eyeing Morgan. J.J. was smiling a little. It was amusing to see high school kids try to flirt with Morgan. "My name is Patricia."

"Yes, we are," Morgan replied back. He didn't seem interested in flirting at all. Morgan was a huge flirt, but Reid guessed that even he had his limits. Reid was surprised to learn that Morgan didn't talk with every living female creature in sight.

"Is that your girlfriend?" Patricia asked looking at J.J.

"They must be training the skinny one!" one of the girls laughed out loud. "I like his dumb ass tie. It looks like he's going for a job interview."

"Yeah, to be a light pole," another one joked back.

J.J. heard the harsh joke, but Morgan didn't seem to notice it. It was louder in the cafeteria, and the group of girls were closer to Reid and J.J. Patricia was a pretty girl with platinum blonde hair and greenish eyes, but the pretty girls were never that nice to Reid. The two girls behind her looked like living Barbie girls complete with bright colored skirts and matching accessories. Even small towns had the popular girls in school who were cruel to anyone who walked their path except for Morgan. Reid suspected they had never seen a man like Morgan before. Patricia circled her way around the table to be closer to Morgan. Her two friends stayed behind Reid and J.J. Morgan usually enjoyed female attention, but he didn't look happy at all.

"So you're tryin to figure out who's killin all those people?" she asked in a sultry voice.

"You should probably go back to your table," Morgan told her.

"You know, my 18th birthday is coming up," she said quietly. "You could come to my party."

"Who is the geekiest guy in your school?" J.J. suddenly asked.

"Noneya," one of the girls said behind Reid.

"Come sit at our table," Patricia continued. "I could show you my birthday list."

"Yeah," another girl said. "You shouldn't be sitting with this skinny dweeb or dumb blonde anyway. You're better than them."

Reid wondered how often this happened when Morgan was in school. Morgan didn't always look like he did now, but Reid was sure that he had always been a smooth talker. Reid looked around the cafeteria again, and he guessed that there was under 400 students in the entire school which was puny when compared to regular high schools. There weren't that many teachers and the rules seemed more lax. In fact, many of the teachers were actually sitting down with the students. The tables didn't look that clean, there was no kind of volume control, and Reid could spot out several bigger kids that looked like they could put up a good fight against Morgan.

"Don't you DARE talk that way about my friends," Morgan said loudly. "This is Agent Jareau, and Doctor Reid. All three of you need to learn to talk to adults with respect. Got it?"

Patricia didn't walk away, but she did stop leaning over Morgan. The other two girls got extremely quiet behind Reid and J.J. Morgan stood up, and turned around to look at Patricia. J.J. had a small smile across her face.

"Go back and finish your lunches," Morgan said.

Reid heard the two girls behind him leave, and that's when he saw the same boy who gave him that weird stare the other day. He was with another, older boy, but he wasn't talking. The older kid looked like he was enjoying himself. He kept slapping the awkward looking boy on the back again and again. Both of them had dull brown hair, olive skin, and the younger one had terrible acne. From the look of it, they were brothers, but their personalities couldn't seem more different. The older one wouldn't stop talking while the smaller one kept looking at his shoes. Their clothes looked unwashed, and Reid could spot several holes in both of their jackets.

"Can I see you another time?" Patricia asked. Reid looked back over at her, and saw that she was leaning back over Morgan.

"I'm not going to tell you again," Morgan said sternly. Patricia pouted her lips, but finally went to go join her friends at their table. Reid looked over at where the brothers were walking, but they were gone.

"Well, that was weird," J.J. commented. "What are you looking at Reid?"

"Just the students," Reid said. He was scanning through the continuous crowd of students coming and going, but he couldn't see the brothers anywhere.

"We should probably start talking to the teachers," J.J. said. "If we are positive that one of the kids are involved, the teachers would know something."

* * *

><p>The sun wasn't completely set by the time that the three agents reached Travis's house, but it was hiding behind large pine trees. The entire forest was blanketed in a black shadow that Prentiss only recognized from horror movies. The trees weren't pretty at all like something from a postcard or a childhood book. The trees were bent out of shape, missing limbs, and most of them looked like they had died during some terrible fire decades ago. Overall, it was a place that Prentiss did not want to be.<p>

"This is it?" Rossi asked looking around.

"I can kind of see a house behind those trees," Prentiss said.

"Which trees?" Rossi asked smiling.

"I know that we are just here to talk to this man, but keep an eye out. He fits the profile perfectly, and it looks like he would have a perfect place to hide his victims. This location isn't that far off from the dump site," Hotch said.

Hotch got out of the car while Prentiss pulled a pair of black gloves over her hands. She made sure her gun was still safe in its holster, and then she followed the boys over to the house. The building had certainly seen better days. It was probably beautiful when it was first built. A large staircase led visitors to the doorway of the house, and a roomy balcony overlooked the entire forest. A pale, green truck was parked beneath it in what used to be a garage. The once fine wood was now chipped, and Prentiss noticed several holes at the base of the house. She kept her guard up just in case any rats decided to come out and pay her a visit. She was never a fan of rats.

"Looks like someone's home," Rossi said ushering to the parked truck.

"Stay close everyone," Hotch commanded.

He led the way up the staircase with Prentiss close behind. Rossi took up the rear, and while none of them were holding their weapons, they were ready to take them out at a moment's notice. It was rare that Morgan was not with them on a raid, but Prentiss knew that Hotch wasn't taking any chances with Reid. It seemed like just yesterday that Reid was tragically abducted by Tobias Henkle. Prentiss was still technically new to the team, but she suffered along with the rest of them as the crazed man sent them video footage of what Reid was going through. She knew that whatever J.J. or Reid said neither one of them really ever got over it. Something like that just wasn't allowed to happen again. The only real reason Morgan was at that high school was to watch over Reid just in case something did happen.

"Mr. Wilder," Hotch shouted. He slammed his fist into the door and waited a moment. "Mr. Wilder, open up. FBI!"

"Did Garcia ever find out if he was living with anybody?" Rossi asked quietly.

"She said that this house was left to Travis when his mother died a while ago. It's bought and paid for. There aren't any other people listed under this house," Prentiss said. That certainly didn't mean that he was living alone.

Hotch pounded on the door again when it opened with a loud creak. Instantly, the three agents drew their guns out. They waited a moment to see if anyone would come out, but the house seemed silent. Hotch ventured in first, and opened the door widely so the others could follow. There was a small light on in the corner of the room, but the place looked empty. The furniture was just as run down as the house was. A white chair and sofa rested in front of a small television state, but it was stained with brown smudges. The carpet hadn't been washed in years, and Prentiss swore she saw a grey rat scamper into a corner.

"Mr. Wilder!" Hotch called out.

A staircase was in front of the small kitchen, and Prentiss thought she heard running water coming from somewhere. Rossi cut across the family room into the kitchen with his gun drawn, and Hotch started up the stairs. Prentiss kept her gun in front of her while she walked over to a door next to the fireplace. She opened the door with ease only to find a bathroom. Nobody was hiding behind the curtain, and the stench from the toilet was overwhelming. Prentiss backed out of the bathroom, and coughed to get that horrid taste out of her mouth. It was getting darker outside, and she really just wanted to leave.

"Clear!" Rossi shouted, and Prentiss followed his voice into the kitchen. Two cereal bowls were on a little table, and the sink was full of used dishes. Prentiss walked closer to the sink, and saw that there was still soap on the dirty dishes.

"Either he just left or he's upstairs," Rossi said joining her at the sink.

"He needs to clean here way more often that he does," Prentiss commented.

"There are two places set at the table," Rossi said. "He's not here by himself."

"We should go see if Hotch found anything," Prentiss said. Her gun was down by her side when she turned around. She heard heavy footsteps coming her way, and she froze in her place. They were not Hotch's footsteps.

"Who the fuck are you?" an angry voice asked her.

_ooo someone said a curse word! i would love reviews pweez. =) and you guys are too awesome with your favorite characters. none of my unsubs are not loved haha. _


	8. Chapter 8

_fast update 2 prove i still love you guys. ill be working on my other story during the next few days because i know you guys are dying 2 know what will happen with harold and such but i love writing the abduction bit of the stories so here is this one. like i said, 3 abductions in one chapter. fantastic. its not really graphic yet but its getting there. oh well, i guess there is one death n this chapter that i forgot about so prepare urselves 4 that. im not saying who =)_

Daniel sat through his last class without hearing a word from anyone. Mr. McDonald was scribbling numbers on the board, but why did he have to pay attention if he already knew the answers? He learned quickly, and he could have been a senior now if he tried hard enough. He just didn't care anymore. When Joseph walked with him to the cafeteria earlier, both of them saw the agents having lunch. Agent Reid was staring at him, but Daniel made sure to disappear before the agent could speak to him. He didn't like Agent Reid. He couldn't put his finger on what exactly made him despise the young agent, but he knew he didn't like Reid from the moment he saw him. His Ma liked him, but she was never really picky with her men.

After school, Daniel walked out to the parking lot without waiting for Joseph. His Pa was sitting in the truck waiting for them. From the look on his face, Pa had a horrible time at mass. Daniel never minded going to mass. It gave him time to think. Religion was fascinating to him. So many people put their faith in something that they could never see. Daniel wasn't a religious person, but he liked to watch the other people recite what the priest told them to and blindly follow commands without thinking first.

"Have fun at school?" Pa asked him when he opened the truck door.

"It was okay," Daniel said quietly. He still had a fever, but it wasn't bothering him.

"Where's that brother of yours?" he asked.

"I don't know." Daniel shut the door, and watched the other students laughing with each other or getting into the cars of their loving parents. Joseph finally emerged from a group of girls with a smile on his face. After slapping one of them on the butt, he walked over to the truck. He threw his bag in the back, and hopped in next to Daniel.

"Hey Pa, I found this one really hot chick that I think we should take," he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"We ain't goin take a girl in your class!" Pa said angrily.

"Come on! Why not?"

"We need to take someone who will be missed by more than just teenagers. Besides, I'm sick of doing girls who are still goin through puberty. No blondes. No freckles," Pa replied. "We need someone who will make the agents get worried. We need them to be out tonight to check out the crime scene. If it's some missing kid, it could wait till morning."

"Who then?" Joseph asked.

Daniel didn't care who they took. It didn't matter. One way or the other, Agents Hotchner and Reid would be in his house that night. He actually couldn't wait to meet Reid personally. As much as he disliked the agent, he wanted to meet him. He wanted to talk to him. He wanted to hear Reid scream.

"Your principle old?" Pa asked.

"Ancient," Joseph said with a smirk on his face. "I don't think you'd want that old cow even if you had a bag over your head."

"Why do you want someone from the school?" Daniel asked simply.

"Easy to follow her back to her house, this school is one of the biggest buildings in this whole damn town, and look how many girls there are to choose from!" Pa said.

"So you want a teacher?" Joseph asked.

"You got some hot teachers boy?" Pa asked with a smile. "No one over 30, got it?"

"Ma is over 30," Daniel said quietly.

"No one asked you," Pa said sharply. "What teachers you got that are hot Joseph?"

"Not my teacher," Joseph said after a moment. "Daniel's teacher. Think that's her right over there," he said pointing to Miss Parker.

"Brown hair, pink sweater?" Pa asked.

"That's the one," Joseph said smiling.

"And what time does she usually leave for the day?" Pa asked. He was staring intently at Daniel's teacher, looking her up and down.

"Around 4pm. Like half an hour from now. You like her dad? I'm sure Ma would look fantastic in that pretty sweater she's wearing, and she ain't even married. She'd be easy to take and she's hotter than hell," Joseph said. "I'd do her in a second."

"Yeah, Laura would look good in that sweater…Daniel, wasn't she the one teaching when the agents talked to your class? Did the agents meet her?"

"She met the agents Pa, but I didn't want to take someone that I know," Daniel said. She was a tough teacher when she wanted to be, but she was the only one that ever tried to listen to Daniel. Besides Joseph, she was the only friend he had.

"Perfect," Pa said smiling. "We'll use you as the distraction. I got rope in that backseat to tie the bitch up with, and we'll leave her with your Ma while we get those agents. We're goin have a pretty fun night, aren't we boys?"

"So we don't get to see her naked till after we get those dumb ass agents?" Joseph complained.

"After we get those agents, you can play with her as long as you want. I can't wait to get that Hotchner fellow under my roof. I've got a lot to teach that man," Pa said.

Daniel watched Miss Parker waving goodbye to one of the students. He didn't really want her to have to come to his house. He wanted to turn the homework in for her class the next day, and he wanted to do well on her next test. With the track record his family had, she probably wouldn't live to see tomorrow. His dad and brother were already making plans about what would happen to her and the agents once they were back home, but Daniel kept staring at Miss Parker. If she had to die, he would be the one to do it. The same went for Agent Reid. The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. He would be the last person they ever saw.

* * *

><p>Hotch had already looked over the first bedroom upstairs when he heard an unfamiliar voice coming from where Prentiss and Rossi were. He quietly walked down the stairs with his gun held out in front of him. An overweight man was pointing a gun at his agents in the kitchen. Prentiss was a few feet in front of Rossi, but both of them had their guns lowered. The armed man didn't look anything like the photo of Travis that Garcia sent them.<p>

"I said, who the fuck are you?" the man shouted at them.

"I'm Agent Rossi, and this is Agent Prentiss," Rossi said quickly. "We are from the FBI."

"FBI?" the man asked.

"Federal bureau of investigation," Prentiss explained.

"I know that you dumb ass. I want to know why the FBI is here!" he yelled.

"Are you Travis Wilder?" Rossi asked.

"What's it to you?" the man asked.

"Lower your weapon sir," Hotch called out from the staircase. The man looked at Hotch, but he didn't put his gun down. He kept it pointed right at Prentiss' head. "Sir, you are thinking of attacking two federal agents. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you don't put that gun down."

The fat man looked at Hotch, and then back at Prentiss before he lowered his gun. Hotch went down the stairs, and stood behind him. He put his gun on the table beside him, but he didn't look happy at all.

"I ain't Travis. He's upstairs takin a shower," the man told them.

"Then who are you?" Prentiss asked.

"Name's Jeb. I live here with him," he said. "I was just out huntin, and then I come back and see some fancy SUV in the front yard."

"Where's your hunt?" Rossi asked.

"Just got a rabbit, left it at the front door. Go check it out if y'all want. Don't know if the lady would wanna see it though, kinda bloody."

"Are you related to Travis?" Rossi asked.

"Course not," Jeb said.

"What's all that racket down there?" another voice asked. Hotch saw a man wrapped in a towel at the top of the staircase. With his black hair and scruffy beard, he looked exactly like the photo that Garcia sent him. This man was Travis. When he saw Hotch with his gun still out, the chubby man raised both of his hands. Luckily, his towel was tied around him so it didn't fall.

"It's okay Travis," Jeb called. "These people say they're with the FBI. Why are you here anyway?"

"FBI? I swear, I did nothing wrong!" Travis said.

"We never said you did," Hotch said. "There's been several murders happening in the town, and your house is near the dump site."

"Dump site?" Jeb asked.

"Where we found the bodies," Prentiss said.

Rossi walked out from the kitchen, and stood next to Hotch. He looked at the man standing in his bath towel, and looked back at Jeb who was still mad he had to put his gun down. These men were not murderers. Hotch had seen most of the house, and there were no signs of any of the victims. He didn't see any of their missing jewelry, clothing, and there was nothing that could be used to hold the victims here. The only chairs in the house were in the kitchen, and they didn't look strong enough to hold struggling people. These men just didn't seem smart enough to pull out an elaborate plan like taunting federal agents.

"Is there a specific reason you live all the way out here?" Rossi asked.

Jeb sat down on the couch, and Travis slowly walked down the stairs. Travis kept his arms over his chest, and Jeb waited until they were next to each other before he spoke.

"The town people don't like us," he said.

"Why not?" Prentiss asked.

"Well, Travis had some problems a few years ago. They never forgave him for that even though he's got this medical condition. We started living together in a house near the library, but the jerks living there ran us out of town," Jeb said.

"Why?" Hotch asked.

"We're gay," Travis said in a low voice. "The people living there thought we were demon worshippers or something just cuz we're not straight, and they probably would have murdered us if we stayed there any longer."

"We're safer out here," Jeb said looking at Hotch. "No one bothers us.

Hotch could tell that they weren't lying. Their body language actually suggested that they were still fearful of torment from the agents. People who talked to Hotch only said negative things about Travis because he was a homosexual. No one bothered to tell him that. Hotch glanced at Rossi and Prentiss who seemed to be thinking the exact same thing he was.

"Could I offer the three of you a drink?" Travis asked. "We have water and milk."

"No thank you," Prentiss said smiling.

"We should probably be on our way," Hotch told them. "I'm sorry for disturbing you."

Hotch led Rossi and Prentiss out, and after shaking hands with the two men, they were on their way back to the hotel. It was quiet in the car until they were miles away from the Wilder house. Hotch felt almost like they were back at square one. Travis seemed perfect. He fit the profile to the T until Hotch actually met him.

"Well, anybody hungry?" Rossi asked to lighten the mood. "I'm buying. It's after dinner time, and I'm starving."

* * *

><p>Miss Parker didn't live that far away from the school, and she usually just walked to class on the nicer days outside. It was cold that day, but she wasn't that far away from home. She packed some papers that needed grading into her bag, and she left the school. She noticed that three of the agents were talking to a few teachers after classes, but she needed to get home. Her dog hated being by himself, and she always took him on walks after dinner. She would tell the police about Daniel's strange behavior tomorrow. She didn't think that he was involved with the recent murders, but something was going on with him. She suspected abuse from his father. She wasn't about to stand around and watch another Columbine attack happen. If something serious was really going on, it would only be a matter of time before he snapped.<p>

Kate Parker sent a text to one of her closest friends while she walked. She hated to feel alone, and it was getting dark outside faster than usual. Texting helped her feel like she wasn't alone. She nearly ran the second her house came in sight. She had never been more happy to see it. She put the phone back in her bag, and found the keys quickly. Bruno was already barking inside, and scratching at the door in a pathetic attempt to help her inside. Bruno was just a little Pomeranian, but no one had ever told him he was just a small dog. In his mind, he was the biggest dog on the block and Kate had no problem letting him think that.

"It's okay Bruno, I'm coming," she called to him. A little black ball of fur was jumping at her feet before the door was all the way open. He danced on his hind legs, and barked 90 words a minute. She shut the door behind her, and threw the white jacket she was wearing on the couch. She didn't need it on inside, but she kept the pink sweater on. She knew that Bruno was looking forward to his evening walk, but she thought she should feed him first. It was already dark outside, and there were warnings every night on the news not go out alone. She turned the television on before she went to the kitchen. She heard reporters talking about the bodies discovered earlier, but she wasn't paying attention. Bruno made sure that he was the only thing on her mind. She opened a can of dog food, and plopped the questionable looking meal onto a plastic plate. Bruno tried attacking the plate when it was still in her hands. She barely managed to put it down because he was so excited. She put the plate of food near the sink, and left Bruno to enjoy his meal in peace.

A shower would calm her nerves down. She would let the hot water run down her hair, and she would feel much better. The papers could wait another day to get graded. None of the students would mind. She plopped herself down on the couch to take off her shoes when she felt something out of place. She finished taking off her shoes, and looked around. Nothing seemed to be missing, but there was something wrong. She stood up to go back into the kitchen when she saw Daniel standing in the hallway by the front door. She gasped when she saw him. She wasn't scared of him, but she didn't expect him to be in her house.

"Daniel?" she asked when she caught her breath. "What are you doing here?"

She circled around the couch to see what was the matter with him when she saw blood coming down from his nose. It wasn't a lot of blood, but it was definitely blood. He wasn't even wearing a long sleeved shirt, and the temperature outside was dropping by the minute.

"Oh my God," she said quietly. "Did your father hit you? Hold on for a second," she told him. She raced into the kitchen, and grabbed a washcloth. Once she stopped the bleeding, she was calling the police. The kid needed to see a doctor, and his father needed to get arrested. This was going to stop tonight. She wet the washcloth, and hurried back out to him. Daniel was standing directly where she left him.

"This will help with the bleeding," she said as she put the cloth against his head. "Did your father hit you?" She didn't expect him to tell her, but she wanted him to start talking. He probably needed to sit down. She'd get him on the couch, and while he was resting she would call the police. "Did you want anything to drink?"

"You sure look good in that sweater lady!" another voice shouted. She looked up and saw Joseph coming in the open front door. He was holding a large knife in front of him, and he had a sly smile across his face. She didn't think it was Daniel's brother that was hurting him. She moved herself in front of Daniel. Joseph wasn't going to hurt Daniel again.

"Get out of here!" she yelled at him. "Now!"

"Or what? Whatcha goin do lady? Call your mommy?" Joseph asked laughing.

"I'm going to call the police if you're not out of here in five seconds. Got it tough guy? I'm not fooling around," she warned him.

"And I'll just tell them you wanted me here for after-class tutoring. They would arrest your ass for endangering a child!" he said laughing.

"I'm not even your teacher!" she shouted back. "Get out of here! Now!"

Joseph wasn't leaving though. In fact, he was coming closer. He slid his knife across a small table near the front door. She needed to get that phone. It was still in her bag, and she could have punched herself for not locking the front door. Daniel was still behind her, but he wasn't really helping the situation. She found his hand, and she squeezed it to try to reassure him that everything was going to be alright. If she didn't get that phone, she was afraid that something terrible would happen. She tried taking Daniel with her back into the family room when she saw another man standing on the other side of the hallway. He was swinging a baseball bat in front of him. Kate took a step back, but kept Daniel behind her. She wasn't going to let him get hurt.

"Were you yelling at my son just now?" he asked with a smile. She saw the resemblance between this man and the two kids in her house. He had the same dull colored hair, and it looked like Daniel had this man's eyes. He was terribly overweight, but this was their father.

"Leave my house now," she said in a deep voice.

"Or what? You're goin call the cops? Those FBI people?" he asked her. Joseph was laughing behind her.

"Get out!" she screamed at him. She was getting scared. None of them were leaving, and she lived alone. Joseph was walking into the living room, and was having a great time looking at the furniture. He picked up her coat, and put it over his own arms.

"Hey Pa, think this would look good on Ma?" Joseph asked.

"Take it and leave," she growled at him. On cop TV shows, the people who always cooperated with the robbers got away without getting hurt. She just had to let them take what they wanted and they would leave her alone. Joseph winked at her, and went into her kitchen. The older man swung the bat at a vase she had sitting underneath a mirror. The vase shattered into a million pieces on the floor.

"Look how pretty you are," he whispered to her. He came up to her, but she ducked before he could grab her. She tried running for the front door when Daniel came out of nowhere and kicked her in the stomach. She fell to tile floor underneath her with a grunt. She tried getting back to her feet when the larger man grabbed a handful of her hair. He pulled her up, and she smelled liquor in his breath. "Where did you think you were goin sweet pea?"

"Let me go," she said staring him straight in the eye. She wasn't afraid of Daniel or his alcoholic father. Daniel was standing behind them. He was watching with a smirk on his face. She thought he was getting abused at home. None of this was making sense. Maybe his father was forcing him to act this way.

"Now, why would I do that?" he asked. He ran his tongue over her cheek, and took a deep breath. "We is goin have fun tonight."

"Hey guys, look what I found!" Joseph shouted from the family room. Kate turned to him, and saw him holding Bruno by the nape of the dog's neck. Bruno was struggling to get away from Joseph, but he was just a little dog. He couldn't do that much.

"Put him down!" she yelled pathetically at him. She felt the tears falling down her cheeks, and she tried escaping from the man's grasp, but he was too strong. He forced both of her arms behind her back, and she felt him tying her up with some kind of rope. "Please, put Bruno down. You're hurting him." She had that dog ever since she moved there five years ago. She loved him.

Joseph lifted the dog up higher, and jabbed the knife right into Bruno's stomach. Bruno screamed, but he didn't stop. He stabbed the dog about four times, and then dropped him on the floor. Kate screamed. She fought harder to run to her dog. She couldn't believe what just happened. Her little dog wasn't moving, and his blood was staining the rug underneath the couch. Bruno was dead. Kate didn't see the man behind her raise the baseball bat to her head. Her eyes were streaming tears. All she wanted to do was save her dog. She almost fell from the first blow of the bat. Her vision blurred, but she didn't cry out. She didn't feel the man holding her up, but she couldn't move her arms at all from the rope. She saw him raise the bat for the second time. Joseph was still looking over her things, but Daniel hadn't moved at all. Kate closed her eyes, and the bat crashed into her skull. Her legs immediately gave out, and she fell to the floor. The last thing she remembered was Joseph laughing.

* * *

><p>Reid was scanning over the list of names that the teachers they met with gave them. They didn't meet with all of the teachers, but they met with a fair amount. Garcia was already doing background checks on the parents of the students. The list wasn't that long, but was something to go on. Reid, J.J., and Morgan went back to the hotel after they got the names, and they were just waiting for the rest of their team to return. Rossi already told them that Travis was not involved with the murders.<p>

"So this Freddy kid acts up a lot. Like, every teacher brought his name up," Morgan told Garcia over the phone. "Did you find anything on his parents?"

"What do you think my little rosebud? Um, Freddy Maguire lost his mother when he was five years old. It was a car accident. He was in the car, but his mother and little sister died. That's so sad," Garcia said with a quiet voice. "He was raised with his father after that, and his father works as a car salesman, but he doesn't have any criminal history. Looks like he's gotten a few traffic tickets, but nothing serious."

"And his address is right next to the police station," J.J. added. "I don't think these two are the unsubs."

"What about George Denton?" Reid asked. They were crossing out names fast.

"Denton, Denton…." Garcia muttered to herself. "Okay, he has two older sisters and lives with both parents. Nice house. Dad used to be a lawyer, but he's retired. Mom has no job, but little Georgy works at a bookstore in town. The two older sisters still live at home, but they both have full time jobs."

Reid was thinking that the more violent unsub would be the newer one, the kid. He was the one that was devolving, and he wouldn't be able to hold down a job. His mental state wasn't well, and it was also probable that the other unsub didn't have a job.

"Find anything?" Hotch asked walking in.

"We're still looking," J.J. told him.

Rossi and Prentiss sat down next to Reid, and Hotch walked over to where Morgan was talking to Garcia on speaker phone. All of them were hopeful that Travis was the unsub, but Reid had a strong feeling he wasn't. He just knew that one of them was a student, and Travis didn't have a relationship with any young people. Reid crossed George's name off the list, and went back to listening to Morgan suggesting names to look up. Reid was about to call out another name when the sheriff walked right up to them. They were sitting in the lobby of the hotel, and while it did not seem like the best place to do that kind of work, the hotel was empty. There was only one woman working the front desk, and Reid hadn't seen any of visitors there since they arrived.

"I was gettin ready to call you," the sheriff told Hotch.

"What happened?" Hotch asked getting up.

"An old lady called me a few minutes ago. She saw a dead dog on someone's porch, and your name is drawn up in blood on the front door along with Agent Reid," the sheriff told them.

"Whose house is it?" Prentiss asked.

"Teacher, Kate Parker," he said. "I thought you'd might want to check it out before I send my men down there."

"Is Miss Parker inside?" J.J. asked.

"We can't find her," the sheriff said. "We think she's been kidnapped."

"Morgan, go with J.J. and Rossi to the police station. We need to get the unsub's profile out immediately. If they just kidnapped Miss Parker, they are still probably in town. Reid and Prentiss will go with me to look at the house. Meet us back at the hotel when you are done at the station. I want to find these guys tonight," Hotch said.

Reid sat in the back seat of the SUV while Hotch drove them to Parker's house. It was only about 15 minutes away from the hotel. It was a nice looking neighborhood, but there was already yellow police tape blocking off her house from curious onlookers. Reid could see his name printed in the dark blood from the car. Hotch parked the car, and the three of them went to look at the dead animal and their bloody names.

"Pomeranian," Prentiss said after glancing at the dog.

"And it looks like an overkill," Reid added. "The fur is all matted up, but he hasn't been dead that long. He doesn't look stiff."

"And there are no flies," Prentiss said.

The message was the same as the one they got that morning. Hotch's and Reid's name were written across the door with the words, "Come Play" written underneath it. They stepped over the dog to get into the house, and Reid saw that a struggle had taken place right near the front door. There was blood on the tile, and a shattered vase was all over the floor.

"Kate Parker walks home alone from school," Hotch said.

"She turns the television on," Prentiss said walking over to the family room. "And it looks like she fed the dog."

"She took her shoes off," Reid said when he saw a pair of black boots on the floor by the couch. That's when he spotted blood on the rug. He already saw the blood on the tile, but this wasn't Kate's blood. "Both of the unsubs were here. One of them held her while the other one goes into the kitchen and finds her dog."

"She must have known the unsub," Prentiss said. "Her phone is still in her bag. She didn't try to call for help when she saw him."

"They came prepared to take her," Hotch said. "I don't see the weapon they killed the dog with or the one they used to subdue her."

"This doesn't fit their profile though. Every victim except for Audrey was taken off the road. They purposely invaded Kate's home, held her by force, and took her. All of this was planned," Prentiss said.

"Look here," Hotch said. He lifted up a white towel from the hallway. It was stained lightly with what looked like blood. "I don't think they were trying to clean up after they took her. I don't think this is hers."

"Maybe someone was bleeding?" Prentiss asked. "They walked in, and they were bleeding so she tried to help?"

"She was tricked," Hotch said. "We need to get this DNA tested."

"The roads are closed down," Reid thought out loud. "Kate fits the age group, and I met her the first day we checked out the school. That is probably why she was taken. They are sending another message to us to stay away."

Reid looked at framed pictures Kate had over her fireplace, and he prayed that she was still alive. The kid followed her home, and she didn't reach for her phone because he wasn't a threat. She didn't see the other unsub until it was too late. Reid didn't see any signs of a struggle other than in the hallway by the door. She didn't even get a chance to get to her bedroom.

"We need to get her face plastered all over the news," Hotch told them. "We are going to find her."

* * *

><p>Laura had everything ready for the company that night. She already had dinner prepared for her hungry boys and husband, and she found three of the sturdiest chairs from the barn to keep the agents and woman still. She wasn't sure what Agent Hotchner and Agent Reid would like to eat for dinner, but she assumed that they weren't vegetarians. She heated up a package of hotdogs in the microwave, and she was getting the vegetables ready when the boys came back. Joseph went straight for the refrigerator to get a soda. Benjamin came in with the body of a young woman hooked over his shoulder. Her feet and wrists were both tied. Daniel trailed in behind his father.<p>

Benjamin sat her down in the first chair, and went right to work securing her in place. She was still unconscious, and her dark hair was falling over her face. Laura loved the light pink sweater the girl was wearing, and she couldn't wait to have it for her very own. She would have to tell the boys she wanted it right after dinner. She wouldn't want it if there was blood all over it. The young woman had a bit of blood on the side of her head, but it didn't look like anything serious.

"Well, isn't she the pretty one," Laura said quietly. "She's got all her teeth, doesn't she?"

"Yep Ma, I looked myself," Joseph said proudly. "And look what I got you!"

He pulled off the white jacket he was wearing, and handed it over to Laura. It was exquisite. She was almost afraid to touch it. The material felt expensive, and her fingers glided over the bits of fur at the end of the arms. She would look like a queen wearing this. She hugged Joseph tightly, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you Joseph. I love it!"

Joseph smiled proudly, and Laura went back to looking over the woman. They didn't look like they wore the same bra size which was a shame, but Laura didn't care that much. The woman would be dead soon anyway. She might be able to use the woman's clothes as gifts for relatives out of town. Christmas was coming up.

"Who is she anyway?" Laura asked. She turned back to the kitchen to finish up the vegetables. She didn't have much time to finish the meal before the agents came to visit, and she was sure that they would be hungry.

"She's is a teacher for one of your sons," Benjamin said. "We were looking around when this little beauty popped up."

"You should have seen her house Ma!" Joseph said. "It was amazing. She had this huge television, and I even saw a laptop in her bedroom!"

"We didn't take nothing else though. We ain't thieves. We stick to the plan which was just to grab her and leave. We should be leaving now to wait for them agents. They'll be getting to the house shortly, and we gotta be ready," Benjamin said.

"Well, have fun boys," Laura said to them with a smile. "Dinner will be waiting for you when you come back."

She watched them all leave, and she felt her heart start to speed up. She was getting excited. She was finally going to be face to face with Agents Reid and Hotchner, and that thrilled her. There was so many things that she had to do, and so little time. The pretty woman was still unconscious on the chair, but she wouldn't stay asleep for long. She would be the first to die that night.

* * *

><p>Prentiss sat in the front seat next to Hotch as they drove back to the hotel. The only thing they really learned from the crime scene is that nothing was stolen directly from the home, and that the unsubs really were getting more daring. This was the first person taken directly from inside a house, and they went out of their way to kill the victim's dog. Prentiss really hoped the young teacher wasn't already dead, but the odds weren't looking too good.<p>

"It was probably one of the students in her class the day that we came," Reid said. "There were only about 20 students there, but I don't the student necessarily texted the parent. The older unsub could have heard about us from someone else, but it was a student in her class. I'm sure of it. We need to get the names of those kids."

"I wonder why they took somebody that one of them knew," Prentiss thought out loud. "She doesn't fit the signature."

"Other than our names on the door," Hotch said.

"Could you call Garcia now Reid?" Prentiss asked. "I'm sure she could find out the students that were in class that day, and that could help us narrow it down."

"Sure," Reid said. He pulled out his phone, and Prentiss went back to looking out the window. It was dark outside, and all she could really see were pine trees. It was an eerie feeling, and she suddenly wanted to be back in the hotel. Yellow lights flashed on after they passed an intersection, and Prentiss saw a truck behind them. She didn't mind at first, but the truck was speeding. It was catching up to them quickly, and she wasn't the only one to notice. Reid's was becoming part of the background noise, and Hotch was eyeing the car from the side mirror.

"Yeah, Garcia, could you find all of the students that are in Miss Parker's first class? I'm looking for male students that don't have a job," Reid said quietly.

The truck came up right behind them, and Prentiss held her breath. The truck was going to hit them. Reid looked out the rear window, and Hotch kept both of his hands firmly on the wheel.

"Hotch, that car is coming up behind us really fast," Reid said with a shaky voice.

"Hold on," Hotch replied. He kept glancing out his window, but he never took one hand off the wheel. "Tell Garcia. Have her get Morgan and the others out here now. I think we found the unsubs."

"Or the unsubs found us," Prentiss said feeling the gun against her side.

She held her breath as the truck got closer, but she couldn't help but gasp out loud when the brown truck crashed into the back of the SUV they were in. All of them were pushed forward, but Hotch managed to keep control of the vehicle. Reid was still alright in the back seat, but most of his hair was pushed over his head.

"Garcia, can you hear me?" Reid shouted into the phone. "Can you call Rossi and Morgan to get to Main Street? Someone's chasing us!"

Prentiss looked back at the truck, and bit the inside of her cheek when she saw the truck coming up beside them. She couldn't see inside the other vehicle, but she sensed they were men. The truck slammed into the side of the SUV, and they swerved to one side. Hotch kept both hands on the wheel, but the truck wouldn't back away. It made a sharp turn right into their car, and Prentiss cried out as the crash sent them into the woods. Hotch struggled to keep control of the car, but it was a bumpy ride and they couldn't see anything. Prentiss didn't see the large tree in front of them until it was too late.

She didn't know how much time went by before she was conscious again. She heard someone opening the backseat of the car, but she couldn't focus on anything. She smelled blood, and sharp pains were coming from her left arm. Where was she? She tried moving her hand, but it hurt too bad so she left it. She heard muffled voices coming from behind her. Were they with Reid? Were they paramedics? Maybe they were going to check her next, but something didn't seem right. She cracked one of her eyes open, and saw half of a tree lodged into the SUV. Glass was shattered everywhere, but that wasn't what startled her. She felt her gun missing from its holster, and she couldn't move her arms because they were bound behind her back. She was tied to the seat. She weakly moved her head to the side to see what Hotch was doing. His leg looked trapped underneath part of the tree, and his head was leaning over the wheel. He didn't look in the best shape.

"Hey, this one's awake!" a strange voice shouted.

Prentiss tried to resist as someone tied a piece of cloth around her head, but it was useless. She needed to go to the hospital. She was afraid that one of her arms were broken, and her head ache wouldn't go away. She felt wet blood on the cloth, and that's when she realized what was happening. These were the unsubs. These were the people that wanted Hotch and Reid. She screamed in a voice that she didn't know she had, and she pulled against the ropes, but it was useless. Someone slammed her door shut, and she heard heavy footprints walking away from the car. She was alone.

_yay! fun chapter and i think the next one will be even more fun becuz reid and hotch finally get 2 meet the unsubs. how fun is that? and just 4 a side note, daniel is the one that made his nose bleed. his dad or brother didnt punch him in the nose. he did it himself. i didnt think id ever get the chance 2 add that 2 the story so i am telling you know. he is a bit off lol. and i LOVE reviews! xoxo_


	9. Chapter 9

_quick update just 4 u guys. more depth into our four unsubs. i felt like laura was getting left out a little so she has a super creepy bit coming up. and daniel is still creepy and joseph is still a lot like the father he hates haha. and more of the accident that took the agents. scary crash really. i would hate to be there_

Joseph was feeling anxious after they left the house again. He didn't really want to get the agents. He would feel perfectly content with just having Daniel's teacher, but his ma wanted the FBI people. He had to respect her wishes. She was a good woman, and he just wanted to make her happy. The backseat of the truck was filled with dirty rope, old handcuffs, and knives galore that they could use if something went wrong. Benjamin's trusty baseball bat sat in the front seat with them. It still had blood on it from the pretty teacher. Benjamin was singing loudly off beat to some horrible song on the radio, but Joseph was used to it. He hated his dad. Daniel was back in his own world. His nose was still bleeding, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Did you have to smack yourself in the nose?" Joseph asked his younger sibling.

"You wanted me to distract her," Daniel replied.

"Yeah, but, you're bleeding," Joseph said.

"It doesn't hurt that bad."

Joseph wasn't about to start arguing with his nutty brother. What would he get out of it? If his brother wanted to go around punching himself in the nose, that was his own problem. He just couldn't wait to get back home and play with Kate. Her hair smelled like roses when he was helping his pa load her into the truck. She was so much prettier than the other girls they recently abducted. Her sharp tongue could be a problem, but he knew he could work with it. He was physically bigger than she was. What could she possibly do? Scream like a little girl? He smiled to himself, but he had to stop daydreaming. He was already starting to wake in his jeans. He crossed his legs over, and stared outside. He saw car lights not far ahead, and once he recognized the back of the SUV, he reached over Daniel and pushed his dad in the arm.

"That's them," he said.

"You sure boy? You better be sure."

"I'm positive dad. Kinda looks like there's three people in the car though," Joseph said squinting his eyes. He knew that the dude with black hair was driving, but he couldn't really see the other people in the car. Benjamin pressed down on the gas, and Joseph made sure that his seat belt was tightly fastened around his chest. He wasn't going to get hurt in some dumb accident.

"Ready boys?" Benjamin asked. "Hold on tight!"

Joseph held onto the door handle to brace himself. They were coming up the SUV fast, and his heart was racing. This was just like a roller coaster ride but better. This one was free, and he got the front row seat. Their car slammed into the back of the SUV, and he started laughing when he saw the agent's car slide a few feet. He high fived his pa, and braced himself for another hit. He just couldn't stop laughing. This was amazing. His father pressed down on the gas again, and they slid right up alongside the SUV.

"Looks like Agent Hotchner is driving," Joseph said. "One of the ladies is in the front seat. I can't see the back seat though."

"If the skinny dork isn't there, we'll get him next time," Benjamin said.

"Crash into them harder old man. Doesn't look like they got a scratch on them," Joseph challenged. "You keep letting them agents show you up!"

He heard his dad growl under his breath, and Joseph took his strong hold on the door again. He leaned over towards Daniel when their car took a sharp curve right into the SUV. Benjamin somehow butted the head of the truck into the side of the SUV, and that hard crash sent the agents deep into the woods. Benjamin pulled over to the side of the road, and all three of them watched the SUV collide into a pine tree. The trunk of the tree tore through the car's engine, and ended up actually in the front of the car.

"Whoa!" Joseph said bursting out into laughter. "Who wants to bet that thing sets on fire?"

"That only happens in movies," Daniel said quietly.

"No one asked you."

"Shut up boys," Benjamin said taking his seat belt off. "I don't see anyone moving from inside the car, and your Ma will kill us if we let them all die in there. She really wanted to meet those guys we've been taunting. We've got to go get them out."

"What about the woman in there?" Daniel asked.

"Leave her," Benjamin said firmly. "We already got a woman back home. Just tie her up to the seat, and put something over her eyes so she can't see us."

"What if the car does set on fire?" Daniel asked.

"Not my problem kid," Benjamin replied. He threw some rope from the backseat to Joseph, and tossed two pairs of handcuffs into Daniel's hands. "Joseph, you tie the bitch up nice and tight. Use some of her clothes or something as a blindfold. Daniel, you're going to handcuff Agent Hotchner and the other guy if he's in there. Be sure to keep your gloves on at all times. While you are doing your work, I'll get their guns and start putting them into the car. No talking. We don't know if they are alive or dead, and if that bitch is awake, the last thing she needs to hear is our voices. Got it?"

"Sure thing big guy…" Joseph said opening the door.

"What'd you say?" Benjamin snapped back. He grabbed Joseph's arm in a rough grasp, and Joseph felt the blood circulation start to cut off.

"Nothing. Just said I wished I had a slick tie," Joseph said.

"A slick tie? Crazy kids these days," Benjamin muttered. "Remember. Shut up both of you, and when you're done with doin what I told you to do, help me with getting them to the car."

Joseph hopped out of the truck, and was greeted with a freezing breeze in his face. He zipped his jacket all the way up, and pulled his gloves over his hands. He trotted into the forest, and was the first one to get to the wrecked SUV. Smoke was rising from the engine, but he still didn't see any movement from inside. He opened the passenger side, and saw the woman with black hair. Her seat belt was still fastened around her chest, but she wasn't moving. Her eyes were closed, and some of the glass from the shattered windshield scraped up her face. She was breathing though. He went to work right away. He tied the rope tightly around her three times, but wasn't careful with her wrists. He wanted to tie them tight enough that it cut off the circulation. He squeezed one of her breasts, just to warm himself up, and he started looking around for something he could use as a blindfold.

Agent Hotchner was unconscious in the driver's seat. Daniel already got the man's hands behind his back, and handcuffs were assuring them that he wasn't going anywhere, but he wasn't in good shape. Part of the tree trunk was crushing one of his legs into the seat. Joseph saw blood coming through the fabric of the pants he was wearing. Joseph was going to laugh if his big ol' pa couldn't get the agent out of the car. In the backseat, he didn't see anything at first. It took a second good look to see that the skinny kid was in the car. Either he wasn't wearing a seat belt or it snapped off because he was lying in the floor behind the woman's seat. Benjamin was already stealing his gun, and pulling him into a sitting position to handcuff him. He saw Joseph staring at him, and that's when he ripped of a piece of the sweater that the young agent was wearing. Joseph caught it, and went to work blindfolding the woman. She was starting to move around, but he was pretty sure that she didn't see him.

Benjamin held Agent Reid over his shoulder, and walked back to the truck. Joseph shut the woman's door, and went around to look in the back seat. He noticed that his father took Agent Reid's shoes off. They probably weren't his size so he didn't have need for them. The dork wouldn't need them anyway. Joseph almost asked his pa just to undress them there. It would save them time at home, but it was freezing outside. He wanted to go back to his house and eat a warm dinner. He was about to help Daniel with Agent Hotchner when he saw a blinking cell phone on the floor where Reid had fallen.

"Reid!" he heard a frantic voice shouting when he picked up the phone. "Reid! Reid, answer me! What's happening?"

Joseph smiled until he realized that the woman screaming on the other end was probably also working for the FBI. She was probably already tracking the call, and the rest of the idiots would be there in minutes. He threw the phone down on a rock, and jumped on it before he went over to Daniel. Just like his father had done, he took off the agent's shoes. He tossed them back in the car, but he wasn't going to try to get the man out of his position. It probably hurt like hell. Pa ushered for Daniel to go wait in the truck when he got back, and after several attempts, he pulled the wounded agent out of the car. He couldn't tell if Hotchner's leg was broken or not, but it wasn't really his problem. Benjamin carried the unconscious agent with ease, and threw him in the back of the truck with the other one. Once they were all back in the car, Benjamin turned the heat on and they drove back into the night.

"How many guns you get?" Joseph asked.

"Only found one on the kid and the woman, but I got two from the boss dude. He was hiding one by his ankle. They're all loaded. This is goin work to our advantage boys. Found the boss dude's cell phone too. Tossed it though. We don't need no one trackin us."

"I don't want to have to wait till after dinner to do the woman," Joseph complained.

"You're goin wait. Momma prepared something nice for supper so you're goin eat it and you're goin like it. Look at the boy in the backseat though. He is pretty enough to be a girl," Benjamin said thoughtfully. "I think I almost like him more than the woman at home."

"His friends call him Reid," Joseph said.

"That's his last name. Sure the kid has a first name too," Benjamin replied.

"He was on the phone during the accident. Some lady was calling him Reid so maybe they go by their last names. Why didn't we just take off their clothes there? I don't think the clothes they got on are goin fit anyone," Joseph said.

"I want their socks," Daniel said quietly.

"You can have all their socks," Benjamin said. "I didn't want to stand around freezing my ass off to take off their outfits. I'm not goin catch myself a cold."

"Reid is pretty," Daniel said. "I want to sit with him." Without warning, Daniel crawled into the backseat and sat in between the two agents.

"Don't wake them up dumb ass!" Joseph warned.

"I'm not. I'm just looking," Daniel replied. The younger brother brushed the hair out of Reid's face, and that's when Joseph noticed a bloody spot on Reid's shirt. He guessed he didn't notice it before because he had a big sweater on. With most of it ripped off, the bloody stain stuck out like a sore thumb. Daniel didn't seem to notice or care. One of his hands was underneath Reid's button down shirt, but Joseph was done being grossed out. Watching Daniel getting turned on by an unconscious federal agent was not on Joseph's to do list.

* * *

><p>Morgan and Rossi stood by J.J.'s side during the entire press conference. She gave the profile to the few reporters that were there, and clarified any misunderstanding that the people living in the town had. It was a father and son team that they were looking for. It was likely that the son did not have a job, and he was a teenager. The father would be in his mid 30s to 50s. He would be driving a truck or a van of some kind, most likely an older model and he was probably out of work. Morgan didn't add anything else to the profile she gave, but he kept his eye on the people from the town that showed up. He didn't think that either one of the unsubs would be interested, but it was still worth a check. He stepped away from the public before J.J. did, and was shocked when Garcia ran up to him. She was supposed to be inside the police station where it was warm. Her face was pale, and she was out of breath.<p>

"You need to get to Main Street now!" she shouted between breaths.

"Whoa, slow down baby girl. What's wrong?"

"I was talking to Reid, and something happened. I don't know what. He said he thought they found the unsubs or something. I don't know. I kept asking him what was going on, and then I heard a loud crash. I think I heard Prentiss scream, but I don't know. He never hung up the phone though. I kept calling out his name, but he never said anything. I think something bad happened."

Morgan waved his hand over to J.J. and Rossi who was talking to the sheriff. She caught his look, and excused herself. Rossi trailed behind her. Garcia was physically shaking all over. It looked like she was about to cry.

"What's up?" J.J. asked when she got over to their corner.

"Is everything alright?" Rossi asked.

"I think there's been an accident with Hotch. We need to get over there now," Morgan told her. "Stay inside Garcia, and stay near your phone. We're going to call you when we find them."

"I never hung up Reid's call. I keep hoping he'll pick up," she said.

"Don't worry. Keep his call on the line, but look out for mine. Maybe they just are in an area with bad reception."

"Okay. Okay, maybe you're right," Garcia said wrapping her arms around herself. "That's probably it. Right. I'll wait inside."

Morgan leaped into the car, and he forgot to turn the heat on until J.J. got buckled in. She turned it on high, and got to work calling everyone's phones. Reid's phone only rung once, but that made sense because Garcia was still refusing to hang it up. Prentiss and Hotch's phones rang all the way to voicemail. That in itself told Morgan something was wrong. Rossi was talking in the back seat, but Morgan couldn't hear him at all. All he could concentrate on was the last time he saw Reid. The kid was digging around in his messenger bag, and Morgan had to tease him about getting his hair done with a manicure and pedicure. Reid didn't laugh at the joke, but Morgan was when they got into their separate vehicles. That couldn't be the last time he saw Reid. They had to both be alright.

"Garcia said that she heard a crash or thought she did," Morgan said slowing the car down once he got to Main Street. "They were coming from Miss Parker's house which is right near the high school so they should be around here somewhere."

Morgan was praying that they didn't crash, but if they did have some kind of car accident, he hoped the unsubs weren't involved. Their car could have just slid off the road because it was slippery. It rained a little bit earlier, and the water on the street was turning into ice. He didn't believe his own explanation though. Hotch would never run the SUV off the road. He was a wonderful driver.

"Wait, I think I saw something," J.J. said. "Back up."

"There's something in the trees. Pull over," Rossi said pointing his finger in the forest.

Morgan did as he was told, but he didn't see anything at first. He saw close to a million trees, and many different kinds of rocks, but that was all. He parked the car on the side of the road though, and circled around to stand next to J.J and Rossi. That was when he saw the SUV Hotch was driving a few feet into the forest. The entire front end of the car looked totaled. Smoke was coming out of the engine, and it was impossible to see where the tree ended and the car began.

"Oh my God," J.J. cried out.

"Hotch!" Morgan yelled out without thinking. Even if Hotch was in the car, he probably wouldn't be shouting back to Morgan that he was doing fine. If it was anybody else besides his team members in that car, they wouldn't have survived the crash. Morgan ran down to the vehicle, and almost tripped a few times from the damned rocks. He pulled the driver's door open, and his heart stopped when he didn't see Hotch inside. He paused only until he saw that Prentiss was still tied in the car. He ran around to the passenger side, and had to yank at the door to get it open. Prentiss was awake, but she was secured in a seat belt and some kind of thick rope. Something was tied around her mouth as well. Morgan gently took that off first.

"Prentiss? Can you hear me?" he asked her.

"My head hurts," she said. "Whiplash or something. Get me out of here."

Morgan found where the knot in the rope was, and after several failed attempts to get it off, he ended up cutting it with a little knife he kept with him. The rope fell in the forest floor, and that's when he saw Reid's blinking cell phone near a gray rock. Reid was there at one time, but he was gone now. Rossi ran up beside Prentiss, and felt her arm gently to make sure nothing was broken. Prentiss pulled her arm away.

"Are you alright Prentiss?" J.J. asked looking in from the driver's side.

"I'm fine," she muttered. "My arm hurts a little. I don't think it's broken though."

"Do you know what happened?" Rossi asked.

The trunk of the tree had actually sliced through the front end, and found its way into the front seat of the car. Part of it was stuck into where Hotch was sitting. J.J. pulled out one of his shoes from the ground. Somebody had run them off the road, abducted Hotch and Reid, but left their shoes behind.

"Reid was on the phone I think," Prentiss said. She put her hand to the side of her head, and kept her eyes looking down. "Someone was behind us. I don't remember how many times they hit us, or when I woke up. I felt someone putting this on me," she said lifting up the cloth that was once around her eyes. The fabric was ripped off of something else, but Morgan didn't try to figure out where. He needed to make sure Prentiss was alright and find the others. "Reid was wearing this. This was part of his sweater," Prentiss said.

"There wasn't any possibility of Hotch or Reid walking away from this, is there?" J.J. asked slowly.

"No," Morgan said looking around. "The asses crashed into you guys, tied up Prentiss, and took Hotch and Reid with them."

"And my gun," Prentiss said feeling her pants. "My gun is gone."

"Did you hear them talking at all?" J.J. asked.

"I can't remember. All I know is that one of them put part of Reid's sweater on me. He shut my door when he was done."

"So the unsubs crash into your car, and come over once they make sure all of you are out of it," Morgan started.

"They took your guns," J.J. continued. "And tied you up."

"While one was securing you to your seat, the other one took Reid and left the door open. Then both of them worked together to get Hotch. The one that tied you up was the one that shut both doors," Rossi said.

Morgan stuck his head in the back door when he was convinced Prentiss was going to live. Morgan found Reid's shoes on the floor, and picked up the cell phone from the ground. Everyone was pushed forward during the crash. Hotch was probably leaning over the steering wheel, but it looked to Morgan like Reid landed on the floor. If he was wearing his seat belt, he would have stayed in the seat. His cell phone would have been next to him. If he was thrown forward during the crash, he collided into one of the front seats and dropped his phone. It probably would have knocked him unconscious making him an easy target. Someone went out of their way to try and crush the cell phone against the rock.

"Was Reid wearing his seat belt?" Morgan asked.

"I wasn't looking," Prentiss said looking back. "There's blood on Hotch's chair. He's hurt."

"We need someone to look at your arm. It doesn't look good," J.J. told Prentiss. The blonde opened the other door to the backseat and tried to look for something that Morgan missed. Morgan handed her Reid's crushed phone, and both were surprised to see that it was still working.

"Hello? Reid? Are you there? Hello?" Garcia's frantic voice called.

"It's just me," J.J. said putting the phone on speaker. "He's not here. Prentiss isn't hurt that bad, but Hotch is missing too."

"What do you mean? Their car crashed? Maybe they just walked away. Maybe they went looking for help. Maybe they found the unsubs, and are taking them to the station," Garcia babbled away.

"Garcia, their shoes are still here," J.J. said.

"And their cell phones," Rossi said loudly. "Hotch's phone was in the cup holder."

"And there's blood on the driver's seat. Hotch wasn't in the condition to walk away if he wanted to," Morgan added.

"We should probably search the surrounding area just in case," Rossi said looking around. "I don't think they are still around, but we might be able to find something."

"Garcia, could you tell the sheriff to send some of his best officers out here?" J.J. asked. "And the medic. Someone needs to look at Prentiss."

"I'm fine you guys," she told all of them. She moved Morgan out of the way, and tried to get out of the car. She stumbled and fell to the ground before she made a second step. Rossi pulled her back to the feet, and she put her arms over his shoulder to support herself. "Just a little dizzy," she said with a weak smile. "Feels kinda like a hangover."

None of them laughed. Rossi helped her walk back to their car, but J.J. stayed behind with Morgan. It was hard to believe that someone could take Hotch. Morgan worked okay as a leader, but he needed Hotch. Theories kept going on through his mind about another likely scenario, but nothing was working out. There was no way in hell that Hotch got himself out from underneath that tree trunk, and went anywhere with Reid while leaving Prentiss roped to her seat. They really were gone.

"Yeah, some officers to help us search near here, and medic to look at Prentiss. She hurt her arm," J.J. told Garcia.

"Of course. I'm on it. Just bring the boys home tonight. I don't like being worried like this…Garcia out." The phone clicked off, and the two of them were left to the foreign sounds of the woods at night.

* * *

><p>Laura was proud of the layout she made for her boys that night. She made enough hotdogs to feed an entire army. She piled the boiled dogs onto a plate in the center of their wooden table. She put the warmed up buns next to the hotdogs with more than enough ketchup packets that she gathered up from fast food restaurants. She had a small bottle of mustard near where Daniel would sit because she knew how much he loved it. Benjamin liked relish, but he was the only one who would touch the stuff so she never bought it. She had two jugs of plain soda, but the small plate of vegetables is what attracted her the most. She needed to make sure both her boys got enough of that in their mouths. They needed to grow up to be big and strong. Dessert that night would be a surprise for her sons and her husband. She found a cheap pumpkin pie when she went shopping early. It was a little bit past the expiration date, but that's how she got such a great price. It still looked delicious to her.<p>

She sat down next to Kate to wait for the guys to get back. All of the cooking was done, and she even turned the television on just like Benjamin wanted. He hated to eat in silence, and she never questioned it. Laura put one of the girl's socks in her mouth to keep her quiet when she woke up. Laura didn't suspect a problem, but it was better to be on the safe side. She was jealous though when she saw the younger woman not only had all of her teeth, but that they were all sparkly white. She hated that. Laura couldn't remember having all of her teeth in grade school. Taking care of teeth wasn't easy and it wasn't fun so she didn't really mind when her teeth literally rotted from her mouth. Her mother never took her to the dentist, and by the time Laura did start brushing, it was too late for many of her teeth.

Laura didn't lie earlier when she told the boys how pretty this teacher was. Her skin was flawless, and her brown hair had a slight wave around her neck. The black pants she was wearing looked work appropriate, and the sock that wasn't shoved in her mouth looked clean. Laura always wanted a little girl. They tried again after Daniel was born, but the only thing that came from it was a miscarriage one morning in the bathroom. She couldn't tell the sex of the child, but she always dreamed that it was a little girl. Laura put her hand on Kate's face, slowly going over the blush on the woman's cheeks and the pink lipstick she was wearing.

"Hey Ma!" Joseph called out. "We're home!"

Laura snapped out of her lost memories, and patted down her apron to get the lipstick off her hands. She took off Kate's other sock, and threw it to the laundry basket. It was a nice sock, and she didn't want to ruin it when the woman wok up.

"Everything work out?" Laura asked walking into the family room.

Joseph plopped down on the couch, and pulled the black boots he was wearing off his feet. He stretched out his arms, and yawned loudly.

"Course it did. I'm starved. Dinner ready?"

"Where are they then?" Laura asked. Just as she asked, Benjamin walked in with the body of the younger agent around his shoulder. The kid had his hands bound in handcuffs, and both of his feet were wrapped together using rope. Benjamin dropped him on the floor in front of her.

"Where did you want him?" Benjamin asked.

"Third chair," Laura said. "I want the older one in the middle. You got him too, right?"

"Stop nagging woman. He's in the car. I'll get him next," Benjamin said.

He picked the skinny agent back up, and went into the tiny dining room. He roughly put the kid on the chair. The kid landed with a loud plop, but he never woke up. Benjamin ripped off what remained of his sweater, and tossed the socks he was wearing on the table. Laura went to pick them up when she noticed the socks didn't match. That was weird. Even rich people didn't like doing laundry. Shrugging, she tossed the socks into the bin with Kate's sock. Benjamin tied rope around Agent Reid, and made sure that it was tight enough to keep him there.

"Wow," Laura said bending over. "Look at him. His nose is perfect." Laura dragged her fingers over his closed eyes, down his nose, and she stopped at his mouth. "Are you sure he's even a guy? He looks too pretty."

"Here, I'll check," Benjamin did. He slid his dirty hand over the agent's clean pants. He went in between the thighs and stopped. "Yep, he's definitely a boy. I've gotta go get the other one. Joseph, I might need your help!"

"Get Daniel to do it," Joseph mumbled from the couch. "Watchin TV."

Daniel was walking around looking rather lost in the kitchen. He heard his name though, and followed his father out the door. Laura grabbed a hair brush from the bathroom, and went to work on the brushing the young woman's hair. It was soft to the touch, and Laura craved having a daughter more than anything. Her daughter would be prettier than this woman. She brushed the hair until she couldn't feel anymore tangles, and then she went over to the agent. His hair had more knots in it than the teacher, but it wasn't that hard to manage. She loved the color of his hair, and she bent down to sniff the top of his head. It didn't stink like her husband's often did.

"Are you sniffing his head? Gross!" Joseph laughed.

"Go start your homework!" Laura shouted. She ran her hands over Agent Reid's long fingers, and wondered if he would like the hotdogs she cooked that night. He was awfully skinny, but so was Daniel and she knew he ate. She rubbed her hands over his collarbone, and that's when she noticed the bloody stain near the center of his shirt. The poor thing was probably hurt in the car accident. She knew that wasn't a good way to take anybody.

Benjamin made a loud entrance with the other agent. He was holding the top of the man's body while Daniel kept the man's feet off the ground. Laura liked that they left the pesky shoes at the accident. She didn't need any more mess in the house. Benjamin tossed him into the middle chair, and tied the ropes around the chair so Agent Hotchner wouldn't be able to get himself loose even if he tried. Benjamin tossed the suit jacket the agent was wearing in the dirty clothes basket, and Laura marveled at what looked like a well toned chest. She removed his socks, and stole a look at the white skin underneath one of his pant legs.

"We got our own Pierce Brosnan with this one," Laura said getting back up. She tossed the socks near the jacket, and went to pouring soda in everyone's glasses. She gave the teacher and the virgin boy the lighter colored soda. She poured root beer in Agent Hotchner's glass. She couldn't wait for him to wake up. She put a hotdog on everyone's plate with a handful of vegetables. Her boys were going to have to finish off their plate if they wanted any dessert.

"Dinner guys!" she called out.

Benjamin came from behind the fridge with a can of beer in one of his hands, and Daniel came out from his room. Joseph refused to budge from the couch.

"Come on, Ma! Why can't we eat on the couch?" he called out.

"Listen to your mother boy!" Benjamin yelled. "Get your sorry little ass out here right now!"

Joseph came out, but he didn't look happy. Laura thought he looked tired. She put her sons across from their company on the other side of the table. Laura sat next to mister tall, dark, and handsome while Benjamin was happy eyeing the young teacher. They all bowed their heads, and Laura crossed her arms under the table.

"Lord," Benjamin began. "We thank you for the delicious food here on our table. We, your humble servants, are honored each and every day that we are alive. We are nothing without you, and we will sing your praises forever and forever. Amen."

"Amen," the rest of the table echoed.

* * *

><p>Kate didn't know what woke her up. It could have been the smell of overcooked meat or the loud voices of people talking around her. She had a headache, but she tried to keep her eyes shut. Her hands were tied behind her, and her ankles were strapped to a chair. She remembered that Daniel came in her house with his family. Something else happened…her dog! An overwhelming sense of guilt took over her, and she couldn't help but cry when she thought of her beloved Bruno. He was screaming for her help, and she let him down. She would never see him again.<p>

"Hey guys, look whose awake!" a man next to her yelled out. She felt something, maybe a sock, get torn out of her mouth. It left her with a bad taste she couldn't get rid of.

She opened her eyes slowly, trying to keep them away from any bright lights that might make her headache worse, but it was relatively dark in the room she was. The lights that were on weren't that bright, but she could saw the faces perfectly of the people around the table. Sitting next to her was an overweight man, probably in his 40s, with curly brown hair and dark eyes. He was badly in need of a shave, and the odor coming from his body made Kate want to puke. He was wearing a black jacket over a pair of jeans. He wore a black baseball cap over his head, but Laura had to look away when he smiled. The few teeth still in his mouth were rotting terribly. This was the bastard that took her. She hated him. Across from him were the two boys that snuck into her house. The older brother, Joseph, smiled at her. His teeth were in better shape than his father's, but it was only a matter of time before his fell out as well. He wore a jacket over a dirty looking tee shirt. His jeans had holes in them, but a belt was in place to hold them up. Daniel was wearing the plaid tee shirt that she last saw him, but he still didn't have a coat on. It wasn't much warmer in the house than outside. Kate was freezing in her sweater. A woman that she didn't recognize sat at the end of the table. She was wearing some kind of patterned dress with a blue apron over it. Her thick hair was curly and matted in several places. Her big brown eyes matched the color of her hair almost perfectly, but her teeth were in worse shape than her husband's. She wasn't terribly overweight, but she did have a belly on her.

A man wearing a white button down shirt and dress pants was to her side. His head had fallen down into his chest, and he was tied to his chair just like she was. Next to him was the young agent that had spoken to her not long ago. His hair almost looked shiny like it had just been brushed. That was odd considering the other agent had messy looking hair.

"So your Daniel's teacher?" the woman asked her.

Kae looked away from the unconscious agents. Everyone at the table, except for Daniel, was staring directly at her and chewing with their mouths open. Daniel was staring down at his plate full of veggies and old meat. Her heart pounded in her chest. What in the world was she supposed to do? If she started screaming, they would kill her faster. She was sure that the father was responsible for the murders she heard about on the news. He was the reason the FBI came in town, and he was the reason that two of the agents were tied up next to her.

"Yeah, um, I'm one of his teachers this year," she finally said.

"And how is he doing?" the woman asked.

Why did this lady not seem to notice about the two men tied up next to her? She was acting like this was some kind of creepy parent-teacher conference and it wasn't. Kate wanted to talk about getting her socks and shoes back so she could leave. She felt like she had to keep her toes moving just so they wouldn't turn blue.

"He's doing great. I mean, I was going to read the paper that he turned in to me later this evening if I could," Kate said. Her head still really hurt. How hard did that ass hit her?

"Paper? What kinda class you teach lady?" the father asked.

"I teach World History. The paper was on the Russian Revolution in 1917. We were going to have a test on it at the end of next week," Kate said. "He's been writing wonderful papers."

"Boy said you's a hard teacher. That true?" the father asked.

"I don't tolerate disruptive behavior in my class," she replied.

"Good for you. You hear that Laura? She don't tolerate bad behavior!" The two parents erupted in laughter. Kate didn't understand the joke.

"He's doing very well though. He should pass the class with flying colors," Kate said. She wanted to keep talking. Daniel wasn't looking at her at all. He was arranging the vegetables on his plate according to their type, and he wasn't making very good progress at finishing his hot dog. His brother was already on his second one, and Joseph wasn't trying to hide the fact that he was staring at her breasts. She ignored him.

"That's good to hear," Laura said. "I always knew he was a smart boy."

"One of the smartest in his class," Kate said agreeing.

"So how old are you?" the father asked again. He reached out to touch her hair, and she struggled to move out of the way. She was trying to act like she wasn't afraid, but it was hard to when a man who smelled like a toilet was feeling her hair.

"Old enough to teach your son," she said sharply.

He grabbed onto her hair, and pulled her face next to his. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see the rotting teeth up close, but nothing she did would take away the smell. She didn't cry out though. She bit the side of her cheek to keep herself quiet.

"How old are you girl?" he asked again.

"25," she whispered.

He let go of her hair, and went right back to eating his hot dog. He never took his eyes off her face, and that scared her. Joseph was still ogling her breasts, and the mother was smiling eerily at her. Why wasn't Daniel doing something? Why weren't the agents waking up?

"I'm taking her first boys," the father said as he stuffed the rest of the hotdog in his mouth. Crumbs fell from his mouth, and landed right in his lap. "Goin break this bitch."

"I wanted to feed her first!" Laura exclaimed. "I told you we shudda had ourselves a baby girl. Ain't she pretty? I just wanna make sure she's not hungry much for tonight."

"Feed her? I don't think she'd be hungry much Ma!" Joseph said laughing.

"I didn't think she'd be hungry either, but when I was lookin at her earlier, it made me remember that we almost had a little girl. You remember that?" Laura asked.

"You don't know what it was. Cudda be a mutant for all you know," the father muttered.

"Shut your mouth! It was a girl. I know it was!" Laura shouted back. "Can't you do something to the older man first? I just wanted to feed the two younger ones, and pretty them up a little bit more. Maybe even a bath. I could make virgin boy's skin all squeaky clean for you."

"You can clean pretty miss teacher after I'm done with her," the father said. "She's first."

"What about me?" Joseph complained.

"You can her next boy, but I'm first." He put his hand on Kate's thigh, and she tried to keep her gaze at Daniel. He had to help her. He couldn't let her get hurt.

"I want Reid first," Daniel said finally speaking up.

"What would you want with him? Bet you don't even know where to begin," the father said slapping his knee in laughter. "I'm goin take all of them first. After me, they're goin be so worn down that they won't struggle as much. I'll take the boy agent after miss pretty here."

"Go to hell," Kate growled.

"What'd you say? What did you say woman?" the father asked standing up.

"I said go to hell!" she screamed at him.

He punched her in the cheek, and her head swung to one side. She didn't bring it back. Her head was hurting worse than before, and her hands were starting to tremble. She was going to get raped. This redneck was going to take her, and she couldn't do anything to stop it.

"Might need some help with this one boys," the father said. "I had a girl like this once before. She didn't last an hour with me."

The whole family laughed at his cruel joke. Kate tried to keep her tears to herself, but she was terrified. They were going to kill her. She opened her eyes to see what they were going to do next when she noticed the man tied next to her was moving his fingers. He was awake too! She looked back at the family who were busy listening to some conversation amongst themselves. When she looked back at the agent, he was looking at her. He stole a glance at the family Satan would fear, but looked back at her. He didn't say anything, but she was sure he winked at her. She wanted to believe he would help her, but he was tied up just like she was. What could he do?

_haha i love daniel randomly telling every1 he wants reid. brilliant. daniel seems to be everyone's favorite unsub and i have to admit, i have great plans for him. hes special lol. i would love it much if everyone reviewed! until next time my friends, xoxo_


	10. Chapter 10

_hello everybody! long time no see. taking care of a little puppy is taking up most of my free times so sorry for that. and its third month anniversary of losing my little dog on the 18th so that will be a very sad day 4 me. anyways, sorry for the long pause between the update. this chapter is a bit more grusome than my other ones so far and its just goin get worse. theres no animal abuse but this chapter is just plain creepy, even 2 me, and i wrote it lol. so enjoy! oh, and a lil bit on non-con near the end. nothing 2 bad yet, but ive given fair warning_

Hotch had been awake for quite a while before the woman next to him finally noticed. He was listening silently to the conversation going on around him, and he bet that she was the missing teacher before that even came up amongst them. He saw that she was tied up just like he was, and Hotch could sense the fear in her voice. Hotch didn't have time yet to look at Reid. He was having a difficult time just staying still. His leg was sending sharp pains throughout his body, but he would think about that later. The focus of his thoughts needed to be about how to get the young teacher and Reid out of there. He would think about his wounded leg later.

Hotch tried working the ropes around his wrists to get them loose, but whoever tied them up knew what they were doing. The ropes just wouldn't budge. He was about to try working on his ankles when he heard the woman beside him get punched. Hotch dared to open his eyes when the table erupted in cruel laughter. Her light brown hair hung around her shoulders, but other than the black bruise on her forehead, she looked alright. Hotch glanced up at the family. Most of the family was finishing off something that looked like hot dogs. Ketchup hung down from their open mouths, crumbs were caught in their unwashed hair, and the smell of their breath made Hotch feel sick to his stomach.

He was surprised that Kate was able to keep calm for this long. Most people who woke up in situations like this couldn't help but scream and struggle, but Kate held her own. Hotch respected her for that, but now it was up to him to get her out of there. Once she was safe, he would work on helping Reid, but he was sure that Kate would be able to find the rest of the team. She would tell them where this place was, and all would be well. He just needed to hold on until that happened. He was going to whisper something assuring to Kate, just to keep her quiet, but the laughter from the redneck family died down. Hotch threw a wink at her, and hung his head back down on his chest. He needed to think of a plan before the family saw him.

"You don't like laughin much, do you pretty?" the father asked.

"Could one of you gentlemen get me that sweater she's wearin? I would wait, but the pie is next, and I don't want her gettin it all dirty. I could wear that to the Christmas party in town this year!" the mother exclaimed.

Hotch had a sick feeling that his missing socks were somewhere in this creepy house. The men kidnap the women, and gave whatever the women had to their mother. The sheriff never mentioned any missing items for the victims, but he never thought about asking. Things were happening so fast that it was hard to keep up.

"Fine, take it," the teacher next to him said.

"Don't try any funny stuff missy," the gruff man said. "There's more of us than you."

"Well," Kate said, "that's true unless you count the FBI agents you have sitting next to me. I'm sure just one of them could take down this entire family."

Hotch opened his eyes just enough to see through his eyelashes. The father had grabbed Kate by the hair, but she wasn't backing down. He slapped her across the cheek, and got the rope undone while she was still recovering the unwelcome shock to her face. She didn't move while the man unbuttoned the light pink sweater, but Hotch noticed she kept glancing his way. The father pulled the sweater done her arms, and tossed it over the table where his wife caught it with ease. She held the sweater up to her nose and took a big whiff out of it.

"She smells like perfume boys!" she said excitedly.

"Yeah, I noticed," the father replied. He bent down to sniff her hair when Kate lunged her body to one side. The chair she was tied to fell over, and Kate pathetically tried to scoot away. The father caught up to her without much effort, and she was pulled back up. He pulled her chair back to its original position, and Hotch noticed that he tied the ropes around her even tighter.

"Where were you tryin to get to?" Hotch heard the man say under his breath. "You looked like you were scootin towards the bedroom. In a hurry? Don't worry teacher lady. We's goin do it right here on the table."

Hotch didn't want to 'wake' up so soon, but he said the disgusting man reach one of his hands toward Kate's breast. He couldn't just sit there and watch. Hotch moaned like he was just waking up, and just like he thought, it brought the attention over to him. The father sat back down without touching Kate anymore.

"Where am I?" Hotch asked. He opened his eyes fully, and looked around the room. It was dark outside, but he couldn't hear any noise coming from the street. Wherever they were, they were really alone. Most of the hot dogs were gone, but no one was trying to clean up. All of them were staring at him except for the younger of the two sons. He was staring at Reid.

"Oh, look at his skin!" the mother squealed.

Hotch never paid much attention to his skin, but if that got everyone's eyes on him and away from Reid and Kate, he would do that. He didn't get a good look at Reid, but the kid had a lot of blood on his shirt. That car accident wasn't kind to any of them. He hoped that Prentiss was alright. She wasn't there with them so he prayed she was already found by the others.

"Are you hungry Hotchner?" the mother asked.

"You made these hot dogs all by yourself?" Hotch asked slowly.

"You bet I did!" she said smiling. "Here, let me make you one." She got to her feet, and Hotch watched her for a second while she put the dog on a bun.

"So you work for the FBI?" the father asked him.

"Yes," Hotch said. "I'm the leader of my team."

"Is that so?" the man asked. "And what's your name?"

"Aaron," Hotch asked truthfully. "I'm Aaron Hotchner."

The mother of the family circled around the table and put two large hotdogs dripping in ketchup on the plate in front of him. His stomach did a flip when he saw the questionable food, but he couldn't puke. He had to keep himself calm.

"Open up wide Aaron!" the mother said.

He opened his mouth in a small circle, and had to fight back the urge to spit when the woman shoved a piece of hotdog in. He swallowed it, and forced a little smile.

"And what's the boy's name?" the man asked gesturing towards Reid. Hotch wanted to lie. He wanted to make something up, but when Reid woke up, he wouldn't understand what was going on. They would be caught, and that wouldn't be good for any of them. He couldn't lie.

"His name is Spencer Reid, and he's the youngest member on my team," Hotch answered after another bite of hotdog was shoved down his throat. "Your hotdogs are delicious."

"Glad you like them," the woman said laughing. She shoved another bite in his mouth, and he had a hard time not coughing from reflex. He wasn't hungry at all, and all of this was just making him ill.

"So what's your name?" Hotch asked after he swallowed.

"Oh, me?" the woman asked. "I'm Laura. My husband is Benjamin and these two handsome boys are my sons: Joseph and Daniel."

Hotch couldn't believe he got their names so easily. Kate was listening as well so as soon as she got out, they would be rescued in no time. He just needed to find a way to make them not want her. Just from looking at the family, Hotch knew right away that none of them could be considered intelligent. Years of inbreeding along with a bad diet is what came up with this family. Hotch just couldn't figure out what kept them away from arrest for so many years.

"Spencer Reid is very pretty," Daniel said out of nowhere. Hotch looked at the younger of the two boys, and was startled by the boy's ghost like appearance. Something was wrong with the kid, but Hotch had more important things to deal with.

"Don't mind him," Joseph said smiling. "He's been acting goofy lately, but it's nothin to be worked up about."

Hotch looked over at Reid. He was hoping his young friend was awake, but just pretending to still be out of it, but Hotch didn't see any signs. His fingers were lying still behind his back, and his dust covered feet were still tight around the chair.

"So how long you been working for the FBI?" Benjamin asked.

"A long time," Hotch said looking back at Kate. She had dried tears on her face. He couldn't blame her. "So you guys like a challenge? Why would you want some helpless school teacher and skinny kid? Don't you want a real challenge?"

Benjamin laughed loudly. Laura and Joseph joined in, but Daniel stayed quiet. Why wouldn't Reid wake up? Hotch offered them a smile to prove that he was still in their sick little game, but he couldn't keep up this crap much longer.

"Don't know if they teach you FBI fellows how to count, but there's four of us here. Just one of you wouldn't do us no good. What kinda challenge is that? My boys wanna play too!"

"Most teenage boys like to play video games or watch football with friends," Hotch commented.

"Well," Benjamin said standing up. "My boys want to play with you."

"Time for pumpkin pie!" Laura announced smiling.

* * *

><p>J.J. sat in the waiting room next to Garcia. None of them really wanted to be there, but they couldn't leave Prentiss alone. All of them wanted to be at the police station to help find their missing team members. J.J. just couldn't believe Spencer was abducted again. This couldn't be happening. It seemed like they just got him back yesterday, and now he was gone. He was really gone. She felt comforted that Hotch was with him, but not by much. They were with the unsubs who had a rather good reputation of ripping people's faces off.<p>

"Why did you guys call me down here right when this happens?" Garcia asked.

"We called you down here to help us solve the case faster," J.J. answered. "We didn't know this would happen."

"Are you sure it was the unsub? They could have gotten in a car accident and so Reid and Hotch wandered off and got lost in the woods maybe."

"And they left their shoes and cell phones behind," J.J. said.

"I know, but" Garcia started but was cut off when a man in a white coat approached them. He looked to be in his late 50s with balding grey hair and tired eyes.

"You're with Agent Prentiss?"

"Yes sir," J.J. said standing up. "How is she?"

"She is doing much better. Her left arm was broken in two places, but she will heal just fine. Other than a few scrapes and bruises, she is fine. She will be ready to leave tonight, but she needs to keep pressure off that arm. I've told her to keep any weight off it, but she doesn't seem like the type to listen."

"We'll keep an eye on her doctor," J.J. said smiling.

"She is in the second room to your right. The papers are already filled out so she is good to go. I've prescribed her some pain medication, but she should sleep well tonight."

"Thank you doctor," J.J. said.

They found Prentiss' room with ease, but were taken back when they saw she was already on her feet. She had her jacket zipped back up, and was looking around for her bag. J.J. hated seeing the bloody rip on the jacket's arm, and she tried not to imagine what Spence and Hotch were going through at that exact moment. All of them had decided that Spencer wasn't wearing his seat belt so he was thrown from the seat, and Hotch went through something terrible while the tree trunk pinned his leg down. There was a lot of blood which still gave J.J. chills.

"Emily!" Garcia scolded. "Don't do that! I'll get your stuff!"

"How are you feeling?" J.J. asked while Garcia searched for Prentiss' belongings.

"Just fine and dandy," Prentiss said. "What else have you guys found out? Any sign of Hotch or Reid yet?"

"Morgan is talking to the press right now. Rossi doesn't think anything too bad will happen to them tonight. They've never had three victims at once, and it is obvious that they are the ones who took that teacher."

"Is he still going to the school tomorrow morning?" Prentiss asked.

"Yeah, Morgan will be going there. He still thinks that one of the unsubs is a student from that school. He's narrowing in on students in Miss Parker's class," J.J. explained.

"I want to look around the forest tonight," Prentiss said. "I'm sure we'll find something."

"Emily! The doctor wanted you to take it easy!" Garcia said.

"Every minute that Hotch and Reid spends with them is a minute too long," Prentiss said. She took her bag from Garcia with her good arm, and led them out of the hospital.

"You're in no shape to go unsub hunting tonight in a creepy forest," J.J. said. "It's late already, and I don't want to go blindly walking around a forest. That's not going to help unless we have something to go on. I don't think it's such a bad idea to Travis. He lives out there, and he might be able to tell us something. He would know if something seemed out of place, or he might know someone who can match the unsubs description. I think he'd be of more help than anyone else we met out here."

"You're right," Prentiss said.

"Spence will probably throw them off with his statics anyway. I don't think they'd want to be around him for long," J.J. joked.

"They are both going to be so scared," Garcia said once they got outside. They zipped up their jackets and looked out into the gloomy night. J.J. didn't have to ask them what they were thinking. She already knew. They were wondering what was happening to their team members.

* * *

><p>Reid knew how to keep quiet. He went to a public high school in Las Vegas, and being the size that he was, he was the constant target of bullying. He noticed that if he pretended to fall unconscious after they smacked him around, they would leave. He could make any believe he was completely out of it, even if he was feeling fine. He wasn't fine though. He had a strong pain coming from his lower chest, and it hurt when he breathed too deeply. He didn't know how long he had truly been unconscious, but something told him that he wasn't in a hospital. He didn't recognize any of the voices around him, except for Hotch, but he didn't sound like himself. He suspected that Hotch was next to him, but there was also a female voice coming from directly beside him. She was humming a tune that was vaguely familiar. It wasn't the tune that he remembered, but the words. He read them somewhere before.<p>

"Here comes the candle to light you to bed. Here comes the chopper to chop off your head. Chip chop! Chip chop!" the woman sang to herself.

"The last man's dead," Reid said quietly finishing off the old nursery rhyme.

"Look whose awake now boys!" the woman said laughing. "And he finished off me song!"

Reid instantly regretted speaking out loud. He didn't really mean to. He just wanted to remind himself of the old rhyme. It really wasn't suitable for children the more he thought about it. He opened his eyes after giving a moment to himself and looked around. The first person he made eye contact with was the awkward kid from that classroom, the kid with the black eyes. The kid was too pale when compared with his older brother, and he wouldn't stop staring at Reid. He didn't want to break eye contact himself, but he had to look away when he felt part of his dinner go up his throat. He leaned over to the side, and threw up what was left of his turkey.

"You must be hungry dear," the woman said. She bent over to look at him, and that's when Reid saw Hotch. Ketchup was splattered all over his face, and his tattered clothes had seen better days. Reid remembered the car accident. He couldn't remember the details, but he knew they ran into an old tree in the forest. The cloth of Hotch's pants was sticking to a red liquid above the knee on Hotch's leg. Reid looked next to Hotch expecting to see Prentiss, but it was the teacher he met earlier. This was the teacher that just went missing.

"Open up wide," the woman said.

"I'm not hungry," Reid quickly replied. The woman had a fork stuck into a smashed up hotdog on his plate. Just the sight of the meat made Reid feel ill.

"Made them myself," the woman continued. "Hot dogs with lots of ketchup!"

"Really ma'am, I already ate my dinner," Reid said. Judging from the look on Hotch's face, he was going to have eat these hotdogs whether he wanted to or not. Before he could even prepare himself, the woman shoved the mixture of meat and sauce right into his face. Most of it fell to his lap, but a few morsels found their way into his mouth.

"Delicious?" the woman asked smiling.

"Ma, I want the pie now," the older son complained.

"Hold your horses Joseph! Let the boy eat. Here comes the second bite," she laughed.

Reid got his mouth open this time, but it didn't help much. He felt the ketchup spread across his face, and more than enough fell to ruin the shirt he was wearing. The fork stabbed him in the tongue, but he didn't cry out. He didn't want to draw any more negative attention to himself.

"That pie does look amazing," Hotch said eyeing the pumpkin pie on the table.

"Didn't make it, but you wouldn't believe the price I got on it!" she said proudly.

"I would believe anything these days. I would love to try some though," Hotch said.

Reid was grateful when the woman finally stopped force feeding him, but it was hard to keep his stomach from dancing around. He wanted to puke again, but he didn't want to lean over near Hotch, and he didn't want to lean towards the plump mother. He just had to hold it. The woman put the fork back on the plate with the rest of the hotdog, and grabbed a large knife from the center of the table. Reid held his breath and looked over at Hotch, but she didn't move towards either one of them. She held the knife over the pie, and brought it over the center.

"Who wants the first piece?" she asked proudly.

"Give it to me," the man next to the teacher said. "I'll need it. Got a long night ahead of me."

"So do you still live with your mother Spencer?" the woman asked.

The older of the brothers snickered as the woman passed the slice to her husband. He didn't bother using a fork. He formed his hand into a fist, and wrapped the pie around it as he shoved it in his mouth. Reid had to look away. He didn't question how they knew his name. Hotch was probably talking to them to keep everyone calm.

"No, I don't," Reid said. He tried moving his hands around, but they were tied tightly behind the chair. He couldn't even move his feet a centimeter away from the chair legs.

"What do your parents do for a living?" she asked while she cut a second piece.

"My mother worked as a teacher," Reid began.

"Oh, how nice! Daniel's teacher is next to your friend. I don't think she likes me all that much, but I'm sure we can become great friends soon."

Reid glanced at the young woman near the end of the table. She was holding her own, but she did look nervous. Reid couldn't blame her. The fat slob could barely keep his eyes off her. These people were the unsubs? Reid suspected the father and son team, but he didn't once think about two sons and a mother. What role did she play in all of this? The older son was probably the one who got the BAU involved. He was the one who took the girl from his school. The younger son was different though. Reid couldn't put his finger on it, but something was off about him.

"Daniel, you get the second piece. You're still a growin boy," the mother said. She passed him over a rather large slice, but he barely touched his dinner.

"You always pick him as your favorite," Joseph mumbled.

"Shut your mouth boy! You're next!" the father shouted.

"Be nice everyone. I want to have a nice family meal," the mother told them. "Joseph, you will get your pie next."

Reid hoped no one offered him any of the pie, and by offered, he meant someone shoving it down his throat. Hotch and Miss Parker didn't look too keen on the idea either. He tried moving his fingers again, but the rope wouldn't budge. The mother put a big piece of the pie in front of Joseph, and he started eating before it was even set down.

"So you a virgin boy?" the father asked Reid.

"What?" Reid asked. He was startled. He looked at Hotch for any kind of assistance, but he was in the exact situation that Reid was in.

"You heard me," the father said as he stuffed more of the pie into his waiting mouth. "Virgin? Maybe gay?"

Reid felt himself turning red. He nervously licked his lips and noticed everyone at the table was staring at him. Why did everyone want to talk to him?

"Um," Reid started.

"You don't have to answer," Hotch quickly cut in.

The mother circled back around the table, and stabbed Hotch in his hurt leg with her cutting knife. The pant leg turned into a deeper shade of scarlet red while Hotch let out a pained cry. The woman ripped the knife out just as harsh and suddenly like when she put it in. Hotch was out of breath by the time she went back to her pie cutting business. She didn't bother wiping off the blood stain from the silver blade.

"You don't interrupt people when they are talking! That just ain't polite, now, is it?" she asked Hotch with a black glare in her eyes. "Now, Agent Reid, you a virgin?" The woman's smile gave Reid goose bumps up and down his arms.

"Well, um," Reid said licking his lips again. "The term virgin can refer to many different definitions, and it really all does depend on what culture or social background you are coming from. Many cultures do not think that oral sex, masturbation, or anal sex as losing one's virginity, but many different kinds of people think that any kind of activity like that would constitute as," Reid said as he went off on a tangent.

"What the hell are you saying?" the father asked.

"He don't even know what a virgin is!" Joseph shouted at him.

Reid felt Hotch looking at him, but he didn't look back. He knew he was turning red. When were they going to stop and eat their stupid dessert?

"So you are a virgin?" the mother asked him smiling.

"Yes," Reid quietly answered. He looked down at Hotch's bleeding leg, and knew that his humiliation was nothing to be complaining about.

"It takes a real man to pick on someone younger than him," Miss Parker said under her breath.

"You pickin a fight with me lady?" the father asked standing up.

"You sit down this instant!" the mother yelled at him. Her husband reluctantly sat back down to finish his dessert, but he kept his eyes on the young teacher the whole time. While they weren't looking his way, Reid leaned over to Hotch.

"Sorry," he whispered to his elder. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Hotch whispered back with an urgency in his voice. "Just be quiet. I'll get us out of here."

"I think the boys want pie!" the mother squealed.

"Can you get her out of here first?" Reid whispered to Hotch. He leaned back into his seat, and sat with his heart pounding while the woman cut several more pieces of pie.

* * *

><p>Benjamin was always a fan of pumpkin pie. He just wished he had some cream to go on top of it, but it was good all the same. He couldn't remember ever having a meal this good. The hot dogs and vegetables filled up his stomach, and the pie left a sweet taste lingering in his mouth. He wanted to ask for a second piece, but he knew that his boys were anxious. They all were. It wasn't just every day that people of this kind of importance visited their house. Benjamin could still remember teachers back in the day had to be male. It was a tough job, teaching all those little brats their place in life. He had to respect the young woman for her career choice, and for having the balls to stand up to kids like his sons. The FBI men were a completely different story. Every day of their lives, they fought all the nutjobs in the world. They wanted something other than a boring desk job, and by God, they got it.<p>

"The dinner was great pookie boo," Benjamin said stretching his arms out in front of him. The kids were almost finished with their pie, and his wife said that she would wait for hers later. She wanted to enjoy the show. "And that sweater looks great on you."

Laura smiled at the compliment, and spun around in a circle to show off the tight-fitting sweater. It was much too small for her, but she didn't seem to mind. It really was a pretty color. Laura gathered up the dishes from the table, and piled them on the counter for washing. She put the food meant for the teacher and the agents on the side table. She thought they would eat later. Benjamin kept telling her time and time again that people never wanted to eat here. He wanted to mention it again, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"Aw, thank you stud muffin!" she said. "Looks like Christmas came early this year."

"Sure did," Benjamin said looking at the pretty woman next to him. She was scared. She might not ever admit it, but she was scared as hell. "Make room on the table boys. I'm doing it right here."

"I was hoping to hear more about your life," Agent Reid said nervously. "What kind of work do you do?"

"Put them agents in the family room boys," Benjamin growled. He wasn't in a talking mood.

Joseph got the older agent's chair, and after a small struggle, he got the older man into the family room. Daniel moved the younger agent with much ease. He took hold of the back of the chair, and with surprising strength, he followed his brother into the family room.

"Be careful with virgin boy," Benjamin told Daniel. "He's next. He ain't goin be a virgin past tonight!" Benjamin laughed at his joke.

The family room was only a few feet away from the kitchen. He could still see both of the agents clearly, and it made him feel good inside when he saw them looking at him as well. He rolled his neck, and smiled down at his first game for the night.

"Just grabbin another beer sweet thing," he told her. "I would wash my hands, but pumpkin all over you might be a good addition."

He went over to the fridge, and was disappointed to see only a few beers left. He was sure that one of these people had wallets. He would have to remember to look over them after he dropped his kids off to school the next morning. He was a man who needed his beer. He cracked open the can, and saw his wife pulled up a chair next to Kate.

"It's all goin be over soon," she told the younger woman in a soothing voice. Laura held her cracked hairbrush in her right hand, and ran the brush slowly through the teacher's hair. "You might even enjoy yourself, you know that?"

"Ma'am please," Kate whispered to her. "I really need to get back home. I have papers to grade, and I haven't read Daniel's paper yet."

Benjamin licked his lips when he saw a tear fall down one of her cheeks. He was breaking the teacher lady without laying a hand on her, and he loved it. He set his beer down, and took the belt off his pants.

"Ssshh, ssshh! Don't cry," Laura told her. Benjamin took off the jacket he was wearing, and tossed it on the counter followed by his shirt.

"You don't have to do this," Kat pleaded.

"Hush a-by, baby, on the tree top. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall," Laura sang softly. "And down will come baby, cradle and all." Laura stood up after the last verse, and pushed the woman and the chair down on the floor. The girl landed on the wood floor back first, and Benjamin was in awe that the chair didn't break. Laura was laughing hysterically like she did when she watched her soap operas on television.

Benjamin was sick of watching. He grabbed his beer can, and went back into the eating area. He picked the chair back up, and spit at the teacher strapped to it.

"Get in the TV room with your boys," Benjamin told her. "Make sure them agents watch the whole thing."

"I love you," Laura said smiling at him. She kissed him on the lips, and he returned the favor with a smack on her butt. She giggled. "Have fun with this one."

"Don't worry Laura, I will," he promised her.

He waited until she was gone before he took his pants off. It was colder in the house, but he was used to it. He just needed to give himself a minute or two to adjust.

"So, Kate, is it?" he asked her.

"You have two federal agents sitting in the next room seeing everything you do. What the hell are you thinking?" she spat out at him.

"I'm thinkin this is goin be a fun night," he told her honestly. "I want you to know, that if you try anything stupid as soon as I untie those ropes, you're dead. Got it? And I don't mean bash you on the head kinda dead…I mean, there will be a lot of blood kinda dead."

She didn't say anything. She wasn't screaming at the top of her lungs like most the girls did, and so he figured her being quiet was giving consent. He bent down behind her, and got the ropes off her ankles first. She didn't move at all. He could barely hear her breathing, but when he loosened the ones around her arms, she bolted. She leaped off the chair, and kicked him in the face as she went. He reached out to grab her, but she was gone.

"Grab the bitch!" Benjamin shouted.

Kate darted through Joseph and Laura with ease. She ran through the kitchen, and made it to the kitchen door. She opened it without thinking twice, but stopped when she saw Daniel was blocking the doorway. What in the world was that kid doing outside? He lifted one of his legs, and kicked it into her stomach. No warning was giving, and the only action took less than a second, but it did its damage. Getting kicked in the stomach was nothing fun, but Daniel was wearing his boots. The kick sent the thin teacher to the ground in a coughing fit. Benjamin took this as his moment. He picked Kate off the floor, and headed back into the table. He made sure to rub his pumpkin smeared fingers all over her hair.

"What the hell were you doin outside?" Joseph asked Daniel.

"Bad headache," Daniel answered. "Wanted to look at the deer."

"Whatever," Joseph said. "I'm goin watch the game."

Benjamin didn't wait for Daniel to get back into the family room. He threw Kate on the kitchen table, and started tearing at her clothes before she had a chance to recover. He ripped off her blouse, and left the shredded cloth on the floor for Laura to pick up later. The black pants she was wearing came off in a single, swift movement and that's when Benjamin saw the nasty bruise her son left on her stomach. His son really could kick.

"Get off of her!" one of the agents shouted. Benjamin didn't care which one.

"Your teacher really is hot Daniel," Benjamin told her younger son as he looked over Kate's perfect body.

He moved to unhook her bra strap when she kicked him from behind. He almost fell off the table, but he balanced himself before anymore mistakes happened. He punched the side of her head which shut her up.

"Don't worry pretty boy," he heard his wife tell Agent Reid. "You're next. Benjamin might even teach you what that doodle of yours is for."

He got the white bra undone, and tossed it on the floor. It wouldn't fit his wife, but it could prove to be useful later. He heard on some movie that Jack the Ripper strangled his victims with their stockings or something. Kate wasn't wearing any stockings. The only thing he was really certain of is that he didn't want her face to come off. None of the other people he met during his past adventures looked like her or the clear skinned agents. They were special.

Her breasts were not that big, but it didn't bother him much. He got sick of looking at his wife's quadruple Ds all day long. It was nice to see a change.

"Hey, agents!" he called out. "Take a look at her!" He pulled Kate up by her hair so the agents could get a good view. Agent Reid barely looked at her, but Agent Hotchner looked pissed off to say the least. Benjamin loved it.

"Sir, we are federal agents working the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Hotchner said firmly. "I know that you are a very intelligent man, and you have a beautiful family. The rest of my team will be here shortly. If I were you, I wouldn't want to get myself into anymore trouble."

"Don't they say that the good guys rarely make history?" Benjamin joked.

"I thought it was the good girls that rarely made history," Kate said looking him in the eye.

"Ha! She still talks!" Benjamin pushed her back on the table. "I might let you have a go at her if you behave Mister Hotchner unless you like the look of the skinny kid next to you."

"Pa, they're in here strugglin like little ants!" Joseph called from the couch. "Both of them. You should see it. What idiots."

"Let her go," Hotch said in a low voice. "You were calling my name out. You never mentioned her. She's nothing to you."

Benjamin punched her in the stomach, right on top of the darkening bruise. She grunted in pain, but didn't look away. He liked this one.

"You're right. She is nothing to me, but so are the two of you. If you can't handle watchin this, I can't wait to see how you are when I play with Spencer over there. How's your leg doin?"

"Still bleeding," Laura told him. "Kinda looks like it hurts." She brought her forefinger down on the bloody leg. Hotch winced, but he didn't move. "Yep, still hurts!"

He kept one of his fists on top of her stomach while he used the other one to pull down her cotton underwear. She kicked her legs out, but it wasn't much of a fight. She suffered a small concussion from earlier, and that bruise near her ribcage wasn't helping. He should probably have kept Daniel around him more often. Daniel was always good at anatomy. He was sure that he aimed his kick towards an organ or something else important in there. It hurt to the touch.

"Well, lookie you," he said looking down on her.

"What a great example you are for your sons," she replied.

"You don't know me teacher," he growled at her. "Glad Joseph killed that little mutt of yours. It deserved to die, just like you."

"Every six minutes, somebody is raped in this country sir," Agent Reid called out. "You don't want to add to that statistic. Just about one third of the victims will end up suffering from post traumatic stress disorder after that. It's not something that should be taken lightly."

"You a doctor boy?" Benjamin asked, mildly curious.

"I have three PHDs," Reid replied.

"So that means you are a doctor?" Benjamin sat up.

"Not in medicine, but I do have doctorates in," Reid started.

"Shut up. Them teachers are givin out certificates in everything these days. Sure if I wanted some fancy diploma in candy tastin, they'd give me one of those," Benjamin said. He scooted himself out of his boxer shorts and looked back down at his son's teacher.

"What are your doctorates in?" a quiet voice from behind asked. "Your hair is very pretty."

All of them stopped talking at once, and looked up for the source of the voice. Daniel was standing behind Reid with a pair of scissors in his hands. Why was Benjamin the one cursed with having a special son? Why? He had to get the weirdness from Laura's side of the family. It wasn't his side. He had very normal parents. Something was just off with Daniel.

"I want a lock of your hair," Daniel told the younger agent.

"Why?" Reid asked after a moment of silence.

"Just cuz. This won't hurt." Daniel lifted the silver scissors just by Reid's hairline, but as promised, the agent wasn't hurt. Daniel just took a lock of the long hair, and sniffed it. As creepy as that was, Benjamin couldn't stare. He needed to get back to work. Joseph would be bitching at him as soon as the ball game was over, and he barely even touched Kate.

"Please don't let your sons see," Kate whispered so only he would hear. "Daniel is in a very fragile state right now, and Joseph isn't doing well in his classes."

"Hey boys!" Benjamin shouted. "Get over here. Both of ye!"

The agents were pushed closer to the excitement so they could be kept an eye on. Letting them be on their own just yet wouldn't be a good idea. Daniel stood off from the rest of the group sniffing the lock of Reid's hair.

"You son of a bitch! Get off of me!" Kate suddenly screamed. She probably just realized what was happening or something. Women were slow like that sometimes. She started pushing her body against his to throw him off. Benjamin laughed at first until she actually got him right between the legs. He heard Joseph laughing which pissed him off even more. Kate managed to get into a sitting position on their dinner table, but that didn't last for long. He got a hold of her hair, and forced her onto her back.

"Fighting is only making this harder on yourself!" Benjamin said laughing.

"I like you," Daniel randomly said. Benjamin looked up for a second and saw his skinny son bending over Agent Reid. The poor agent was looking uncomfortable in more ways than one.

Using that opportunity, he spread Kate's legs apart and forced himself into her. There was no foreplay or teasing. There wasn't time. He wanted to move onto the agents while he was still wide awake. Daniel's teacher was just practice. Once his children learned how much more fun it would be to break the agents, they would want to leave her alone as well. She would have a sad and lonely death back in their barn. Benjamin was just glad his wife got her pretty sweater.

"Who wants hot chocolate boys?" Laura asked from the kitchen.

_so yes, chapter 10 lol. u guys still think daniel is the creepiest cuz laura is probably the on who will give me nightmares. she really needs to stop singing lol. plz review! more reviews=happy author=faster updates_


	11. Chapter 11

_quicker update so go me! go blame the author of Satan's Hallow if u r against quick updates. minor warnings: rape, mention of that little dead doggie, lots of language. oh and daniel is majorly creepy n this chapter, but that pretty much describes him n all the chapters so...ya...enjoy!_

Kate tried to ignore the pain that went searing through her body with the penetration. It was nothing compared to the humiliation she felt. She was in front of two students that went to her school, and she actually tried to help one of them. She wanted to look at Daniel, to see what he was doing, but she couldn't bring herself to. She didn't want to know if he was watching or not. She didn't want to see the federal agents staring at her as some drunk bastard took over her entire body. Just because he was on top of her didn't mean she couldn't keep fighting. She refused to stay still, and she tried to work against the violent rhythm he was forming.

"I think she's a virgin too boys!" Benjamin shouted over her own yells. "Well, she was a virgin!"

It would be over soon she kept reminding herself. No matter how terrible it seemed, it would have to end. She twisted her hips around every chance she got to make it harder for him, but that wasn't helping much. Benjamin seemed to take a liking to the dark bruise underneath her ribcage. Whenever she fought back, she felt a punch slam into her stomach. She didn't scream though. She wasn't going to give him that glory, but the pain was something she never felt before. It took her breath away. He only hit her there a few times before the pain became just too much. She couldn't fight anymore.

"Faster dad!" Joseph yelled out. "I want my turn next!"

Kate wanted to concentrate on something else beside the violent thrusts between her legs, but that's all she could think about. She never imagined in a million years that her first time would be like that. She never knew that it could hurt so badly.

"God, I'll never get over pretty virgins," Benjamin growled down at her.

"Sorry your wife was never one," Kate said back.

Benjamin slapped her against the cheek. That was when she finally opened her eyes. She saw the distressed looks of the two agents, still tied to the chairs, and the excited smile covering Joseph's face. This could not be happening. Daniel was kneeling besides Agent Reid, but he wasn't looking at the nervous agent. He was staring at her. He wasn't trying to stop his father at all. He actually licked his lips when he saw her looking at him. She closed her eyes again and that's when the bastard on top of her finally came. She felt the inbred seed fill her, and she knew it was over. He shoved her off the table before he pulled himself out. He slipped out as she fell. She hit the ground with a hard thump.

She pulled herself up, but she felt weak. The rest of the FBI would be there soon. She would move away from that town and never look back, but she would be safe. Benjamin got off the table, and pulled his pants back up. Using this small distraction, she crawled over to be near to the agents. Even though they were tied up, she still felt a small protection from them. Daniel had wandered off to look at the bloody mess left on the table. She put her hands on the bottom of the chair legs. The chair wouldn't be able to do crap if one of the guys tried dragging her off, but it gave her a small comfort to be near the authorities. She felt terribly nauseated, and for once, she was happy she didn't cook dinner the second she got home. She would be puking all over the place. She noticed Hotch's bloody leg when she looked up to talk to him. The rest of the team had to get there quick. She doubted that Hotch could even walk with a leg like that.

"She was fun boys, but now it's time to get to a real challenge," Benjamin said as he stretched his flabby arms over his head.

"But you said I could play with her when you were done!" Joseph complained.

"You will, you will," Benjamin said. "But you won't be payin attention to me if you're busy rapin her. Will ya?"

"Never pay attention to you," Joseph muttered.

"What did you say boy? Speak up!"

"Nothing. I said nothin Pa," Joseph said.

Benjamin circled around the table, and grabbed Agent Hotchner's chair. He pushed the chair against a wall with a loud crash. Hotch didn't say anything, but his body fell forward with the hit. Benjamin did the same with Reid's chair.

"How long do you think you can keep this up Benjamin?" Hotch asked.

"Long as I want rich dude," was the quick answer.

Kate tried hiding underneath the table while Benjamin was rearranging the agents, but Joseph found her. He picked her up by her hair, and threw her against the wall. It wasn't an easy throw, and he didn't have as much grace as Daniel seemed to, but it was a hard impact. One of her legs hit Reid's chair, and she fell face first to the floor. She grunted as she lifted herself up with her arms. The skin on her knee was torn open from the rough wood used to make those damned chairs, but it didn't hurt too badly.

"Would you leave her alone?" Reid asked Joseph.

Kate was between the two agents, but she felt far from safe. She brought her knees up to her chest, and tried to get as close to the wall as possible. The whole family was staring at them, like they were some kind of sideshow circus. She wouldn't be able to try to escape again until at least one of them left. She just couldn't believe Daniel was acting like this. It was almost as like he had never met her before, like she was just another random girl his drunk father brought home, but she wasn't. She had been his teacher all semester long, and she tried to help him. Daniel seemed more interested in Rid than her, but that didn't calm her nerves.

"Tie the bitch up to the fridge," Benjamin told Joseph. "It will give you time to get ready, and she will probably stop bleeding by then."

Kate pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the burning pain coming from her torn up knee. She wasn't going to sit around while they treated her like a dog. Joseph and Benjamin laughed at her. She pushed Hotchner's chair away from the wall, and she ran behind it. She knew there was a back door in the kitchen, but she couldn't get to it so she ran into the family room. There had to be a front door near there. She ran around the couch, nearly tripping over some ball on the floor, and spotted a door. She couldn't get her feet to move fast enough, and her body was already telling her that it was cold, but she needed to get out of there. She never made it to the door. Joseph beat her to it with his baseball back. She tried to dodge the bat, but she missed. The bat hit her in the back of the head, and she collapsed on the wooden floor.

* * *

><p>Reid watched Joseph drag the young teacher back into the kitchen. He tied jagged ropes around her wrists, and wrapped them around part of the fridge. He also tied her ankles together. She almost looked dead with her head hanging limply to one side of her body. Her light brown hair was covering her face, and her breathing looked shallow.<p>

"If you ain't careful, you're goin kill this one!" Laura told Joseph. The kid laughed at her, but wasted no time with his curious fingers. "You know, once they dead, they don't come back."

"Don't worry Ma. She's still breathin," Joseph assured her.

"She's had another concussion," Reid said automatically. He didn't mean to bring attention to himself, but Kate needed to be looked at by medical doctor. "If she keeps suffering from concussions, the results could be serious. There's a small chance she could develop epilepsy. It's a disruption of brain function, and she needs a lot of rest to help her recover."

"Recover?" Laura asked.

"Yes, recover. Concussions are a serious matter, and she doesn't look like she's doing well," Reid said slowly.

"Sweetie pie," Laura said walking towards him "She ain't leavin here alive."

Reid looked over at Hotch, and nervously licked his lips. He was grateful to not be there alone, but what did he expect Hotch to do? Reid wasn't even sure if Hotch could even walk.

"None of you is leavin here alive," Laura said bending down to look Reid in the eye.

"Don't go around threatening my agents," Hotch told her. "If you lay one finger on either one of us, they are going to lock you and your family away for a LONG time."

Laura looked at Hotch, and ran her tongue over her top lip. She lifted up her right index finger, and rubbed it down one of Reid's cheeks. Her finger was as cold as Reid's feet were. She laughed hysterically when she got to Reid's neck. Hotch said nothing.

"Oh, you are the pretty one," Laura whispered to him. She trailed her index finger down to the collar of Reid's shirt, and that's when she added her second hand. She gently rubbed both hands down until they reached Reid's thin chest. Reid's heart was pounding against his ribcage, but he remained cool and collected on his face.

"Get your hands off of him," Hotch growled under his breath.

"Or what? You're goin yell at me?" Laura asked with a smile. She bent her face down so her mouth was level with one of Reid's ears. "We is goin have fun with you!" She stuck her tongue down his ear. Reid moved away out of instinct, and Laura backed away laughing. "He looks just like one of my dollies from when I was a girl!"

Reid had been called a lot of things in his life, but a doll was never one of them. Joseph was busy molesting Kate with his fingers, and Benjamin had gone into the kitchen. Reid wished he could tell what Hotch was thinking, but his superior was as straight faced as he always was.

"Stop touching her Daniel! You'll get your turn soon enough!" Laura shouted to her older son.

Laura walked over to her older son, and slapped him against one of his cheeks. He backed away from Kate, but Laura bent down to get closer. She picked up one of the woman's hands against the fridge, and slid her fingers over Kate's nails.

"Hey, stud muffin! We got any of that nail polish left?" Laura yelled.

"Yeah! Should be on top of the fridge!" Benjamin replied.

Laura stood up, and after a moment of pushing objects around on top of the refrigerator, she bent back down with a bottle of pink nail polish. She opened it up, and pulled the tiny brush from the container. Very delicately, she picked up one of Kate's hands and started to paint the nails. The whole motion made Reid feel very sick.

"What do we do Hotch?" Reid whispered.

"Kate isn't dead, is she?" Hotch asked.

"No, she's breathing," Reid said looking at the unconscious woman. "She needs to go to the hospital though, and so do you."

"My leg is fine," Hotch said quickly. He motioned his eyes to Reid's side. Reid looked around, not expecting to see anything, but he found Daniel kneeling beside him. How long had he been there?

"You don't like my brother," Daniel stated plainly. "But it's okay. I don't like him much either."

"I never said I didn't like him," Reid finally answered. What was he supposed to say?

"Your face told me," Daniel replied. "You keep licking your lips too. "You're scared, but you shouldn't be."

"Why not?" Reid asked. He wanted to look at Hotch, but he was afraid to look away from the kid at his side. He wasn't sure if Daniel would snap or not, but he didn't want to risk it.

"Death isn't bad. It's instant, and it doesn't hurt," Daniel said. He looked right into Reid's eyes, and for some reason, this scared Reid more than Joseph running around with a baseball bat or Laura carrying around her knives. "Nobody wants to die. I don't know why."

"Do you want to die?"

"I don't see what's so bad about it," Daniel said. "Everybody is going to die sooner or later."

"We have stuff to do before we die," Reid said slowly. "Your teacher over there…I think she wants to go home. She doesn't look that happy."

"When she wakes up, I have some questions to ask her," Daniel said, ignoring everything Reid told him.

"What?"

"She has this paper due tomorrow. I just wanted to make sure I was on the right track," Daniel said calmly.

Reid was dumbfounded. This kid wanted to ask his teacher about homework right after his father brutally raped her. It was clear that Daniel was delusional, but he seemed to be in a completely different mental state than his family.

"Time to take off their shirts!" Benjamin announced coming back with a little knife.

It was cold in there. Reid didn't need his shirt off to know that. His toes were tingling, and his nose hurt at the tip. Hotch's jacket was already missing, and Reid had no memory of wear his sweater or vest disappeared to.

"It ain't that bad," Daniel told Reid. "Miss Parker doesn't mind."

Reid stole a glance at Kate, but she hadn't moved. Reid wished they had given her a blanket or something. Her legs were stretched out towards them, and her arms were being held above her head. Reid knew she was freezing, and that she would rather not be exposed like she was to everyone in the house.

Benjamin cut through Hotch's shirt first. He sliced it right down the middle without bothering with the buttons. Several of the buttons fell to the floor, and Laura went to gathering them right away. Benjamin cut around the shoulders, and in only a few moments, the white shirt fell to the floor. Laura squealed, and pushed her husband out of the way so she could rub her hands across Hotch's chest.

"He is real," Laura moaned.

"You need to let Miss Parker and Doctor Reid go," Hotch said firmly. "What do you expect them to do? Kate can barely move, and Reid was hurt when you guys crashed our car."

"You just keep talkin Mister Agent," Benjamin said. He pulled out a familiar looking gun from the back of his pants. It was Reid's gun. "One more word about lettin anyone go, and take a wild guess who gets to meet this here gun up close and personal. I'll give ya a hint because I'm that kind of guy. It ain't goin be you."

He put the gun against the side of Reid's head, and Reid couldn't help but hold his breath. He didn't look at Hotch. He didn't look at anyone. He doubted that the overweight man would actually pull the gun, but he didn't want to take any chances. Hotch didn't say anything, and the man finally lowered the weapon. He tossed it on the table, and went to work on cutting Reid's shirt. The cold knife slid down his torso, and his dress shirt was opened in the middle just like Hotch's was. For the first time that night, Reid got a good look at his injury. There wasn't as much blood as he feared, but he needed to go see a doctor. The bruise across his ribcage stretched over most of his chest. A rib could be broken, and that would only get worse if it wasn't treated soon. Benjamin didn't seem to notice. He cut around Reid's shoulders, and the shirt fell discarded on the floor.

"Skinny guy, ain't ya?" Benjamin asked him.

The cold hit Reid like a thousand needles. The heat wasn't turned on in the house. That was the only explanation. The temperature was dropping every second outside, but the family was already used to it. The sweaters and jackets they wore was all they really needed, but not Reid or Hotch.

"Think you're skinnier than Daniel over there!" Benjamin said laughing. "Don't ya eat?"

"I eat," Reid said quietly. He would rather not discuss his diet with anyone in this family.

"Don't want ya eatin too much though," Benjamin said slapping his stomach. "Can't have ya stinkin up the place!"

"Stop picking on the kid!" Hotch said loudly.

"Oh, you want some attention too? Joseph, get him!" Benjamin yelled.

Joseph came at Hotch fast with the baseball bat. It was almost like slow motion to Reid. The boy still in high school raised the bat above his head, and struck it into Hotch's stomach. It wasn't a particularly hard hit, but that didn't stop Hotch from bellowing out in pain. Hotch tried to bend over, but his restraints wouldn't allow him that luxury. Stray tears fell out of his eyes, but he managed to compose himself. He stopped the pained noise, and sat back up in his seat. Reid noticed a red mark stained across his stomach.

"Want more attention Mister Hotchner?" Benjamin asked.

"Honey pumpkins, it's getting late," Laura said walking back over to them. "The boys have school in the morning, and a little bird just told me that neither one of them have done their homework."

"But Ma! I didn't get to have any fun yet!" Joseph whined.

"The teacher is still out. You probably shouldn't have hit her so hard with that bat of yours," Laura told him. "Lucky she ain't dead."

"Can we at least see what they look like without their clothes on?" Daniel asked.

Reid looked over at Hotch, and then back at the family. He already felt naked without his socks or his shirt on. He didn't want to be missing anymore clothing. He kept reminding himself that he still had his strength. He wasn't tired, and he would be able to put up some kind of fight if they tried hurting him, but he couldn't fight a man of Benjamin's size. Reid didn't think that Hotch could either.

"But where we keepin them tonight? We've never had the people stay overnight before, and I ain't feedin them my breakfast!" Benjamin said.

"The freezer," Daniel said. "It's big enough for all of them, and there aren't any windows. The door has a big lock on it too. It should keep them locked away until tomorrow."

"Does that old thing still work?" Benjamin asked.

"Does it matter? It a little room with a big ol' door," Laura exclaimed. "I can figure out if we can still make it freezin in there tomorrow."

Reid didn't want to go in a freezer, cold or not. Reid tried pulling at the ropes keeping his wrists together, but they still wouldn't budge. His heart rate was speeding up, but he couldn't help it. He didn't want to spend the night anywhere near these people. He wanted to get out there.

"We could use their handcuffs with the rope to tie them up in there," Daniel continued.

"Where did you get handcuffs?" Joseph demanded.

"Found them," Daniel said shrugging. "They had some in their SUV so I took them."

"Let's put teacher girl in there first," Benjamin said.

Benjamin untied the young woman from the refrigerator, and flung her over his shoulder like she was a rag doll. She still wasn't awake. Daniel came around back, and undid the rope restraints around her wrists. He replaced them with a silver pair of handcuffs. Reid wondered if they had the key to the handcuffs, but he couldn't worry about that now.

"Reid," Hotch whispered as soon as they all left the room. "Do not fight them. Do not give them any reason to use force with you."

Reid nodded his head nervously. He heard Laura laughing from the freezer room, and Reid fought his ankle restraints. Why was this happening?

"I won't let you get hurt. I just need you to listen to me," Hotch instructed. "Don't try to run for it. All of them are on their guard. Once we get into the freezer, we can think up a plan to get us out of here. Okay?"

"Okay," Reid answered quickly. He didn't want them to take off his pants, and he didn't want to be in any kind of position that would leave him vulnerable to that family. Reid wouldn't admit it to Hotch, but he was scared.

* * *

><p>Daniel was behind his father to put the cuffs on his favorite teacher. Her slender wrists hung down his father's back, but Daniel couldn't feel anything. He didn't feel bad for her, and he didn't regret what was going to happen to her. Death was a part of life. Blood was still on her thighs, and he imagined that what she was going through was painful, but it would all be over soon enough. Maybe her death would relieve his constant headaches. He followed behind his family and watched quietly as they debated how to tie Miss Parker up. It ended with her being placed against the far wall. It wasn't cold in the freezer anymore. They hadn't used that freezer in years. When the house was built, it was a perfect place to store meat during the long winters, but his family never had enough money to buy that much meat and they never went hunting for animals. The freezer went into ruin until Daniel thought of it.<p>

The freezer wasn't that big of a room. It was about the size of a normal bedroom, maybe smaller, but there wasn't any furniture. Large pipes ran along the bottom of the walls, and there were a few shelves that could be used for storing, but other than that, the room was empty. A little box used for controlling the temperature was right outside of the door. It looked a little dusty, but Daniel was sure he would be able to figure it out. He wanted to know how cold it could get in there. Could people really freeze to death as fast as they did when the Titanic sunk? Daniel wanted to stay to play with the thermometer, but his family was already back with the agents. Daniel followed behind, never saying a word.

"So who wants to go first?" his father asked.

Reid glanced at the older agent. He looked scared to death. Daniel moved in closer.

"Who wants to go first to the freezer?" Hotch asked.

"I'll take that as you volunteering your dumb ass kid," Benjamin said. "Joseph, cut the ropes off. Get the virgin on his feet!"

Joseph pushed Reid's chair away from the wall, and cut the ropes down the middle for his feet and hands. Reid didn't stand up right away. In fact, he didn't stand up at all. Joseph had to push him to get the young man to stand up. He wobbled when he first stood to face Benjamin, but he got his body under control in seconds.

"He does look like a girl!" Benjamin said laughing. "Sweet little girl!"

Benjamin laughed for a second longer, but bent over unexpectedly and punched Reid in the stomach. Reid bellied over, and Joseph kicked him in the back from behind. Reid fell to the floor with a loud grunt. His pretty hair covered his face.

"Back to your feet!" Benjamin commanded.

Reid coughed, but he didn't say anything. He caught his breath, and slowly brought himself back to his feet. He barely caught his balance when Benjamin slammed his fist back into Reid's stomach. Reid stumbled back, but Joseph held onto him while Benjamin punched him in the eye. Benjamin back handed the agent against the cheek, and kicked him once again in his thin belly. A loud cough escaped his throat, and he fell forward to the floor.

"Get the belt," Benjamin instructed Joseph. Daniel's big brother bent down, and unhooked the belt from the agent's pants with ease. The belt came off without a peep from Reid.

"Stand up," Benjamin told Reid. "Now!"

Reid obeyed, but he didn't make eye contact with any of them. He kept his eyes on his feet, and his hands stayed at his side.

"Let me take off his pants," Daniel volunteered. He moved away from the table, and up to the skinny agent who wasn't that much taller than he was.

Benjamin grabbed a handful of Reid's hair, and pulled Reid to his face.

"You lay one hand on my son, one fucking hand, and you'll wish you were never born. Got it? Virgin?" Benjamin growled.

Reid nodded his head, and Daniel noticed his breathing sped up. Daniel put one of his hands on Reid's chest, and concentrated on the pale chest rising and falling with each, shallow breath. Reid wasn't looking at him at all, but Daniel didn't mind. Daniel used his other hand to rip off the button of the pants the agent was wearing. He could have just undone the button, but ripping it seemed like more fun. The button flew across the room, and Daniel smiled.

"You don't have to do this," Reid said under his breath.

"I don't have to," Daniel told him. "I want to." He unzipped the pants, and helped to guide the material down Reid's long legs. He dropped them when they reached Reid's ankles, and Daniel took a moment to study the white legs sporting an array of goose bumps above the knee. The agent was wearing light blue boxers with dark blue dots scattered across the fabric. It suit Reid well. Without waiting for permission, he put both of his hands of the band of the boxers. To his surprise, Reid stepped back. He stepped away from Daniel's grasp and closer to his superior.

"Where ya goin?" Joseph called out.

Laura walked from behind her husband, and pushed Reid back on the floor. Both of his knees were lightly scraped from the uneven wooden floor, but he didn't make a sound. Hotch, however, looked like he was ready to explode.

"Let him keep the underwear!" Hotch yelled from underneath the laughter of Daniel's family. For some reason, all of them thought it was simply hilarious to see Agent Reid on the floor with his pants wrapped around his ankles.

"Get up Agent Reid," Laura beckoned. "Get up!" She kicked him in the rear end, and Reid quickly got back on his wobbly feet.

"You move again kid, and I'll put a bullet in Hotch's leg. Got it?" Benjamin asked the agent.

"Why are you doing this?" Reid asked.

Laura slapped him against the cheek, but Reid didn't fall. His large eyes were turning red, but no tears fell. Joseph stole a pair of handcuffs from Daniel's back pocket, and locked them onto Reid before another word was spoken. Daniel stepped forward to the man that could ultimately take him to prison, but he wasn't afraid. Daniel got onto his knees, and pulled the boxers down. He let them fall on their own. He was more interested in what was behind the cloth.

"Haha!" Joseph laughed loudly. "Look at him!"

"Limper than my hotdogs were tonight," Laura agreed. "No wonder you's a virgin boy!"

"Sure is ugly," Joseph said between his harsh laughs.

Laura kicked Reid on the butt with her heels, and Reid fell back on the ground. He kept his head down, and he wasn't looking anxiously back at his superior. He was trying to hide himself. That much was obvious, but why was he trying to do that? Everybody had already seen it.

"Pathetic excuse for a man," Benjamin said looking down at Reid. "You'll be thanking me by the time I'm done with you boy."

"Making fun of him to make yourselves look better?" Hotch asked.

Benjamin spit on Reid's hair while staring at the other agent. Daniel could hear Reid's quick breaths, and he scooted closer to him. Reid's face was hidden with his long hair. Daniel moved some of the hair away from his eyes, and tried to make eye contact with the agent, but Reid wouldn't move.

"Don't like me making fun of virgin, eh?" Benjamin challenged. He pulled Reid back to his feet using the agent's hair, and forced Reid to face Hotch. The older agent didn't even look at Reid. He kept his eyes glued on Benjamin. Reid was finally looking at something other than the floor though. His eyes were wandering around the different rooms of the house, or what he could see of them. Daniel didn't like that. Daniel didn't like that at all. He got off his knees, and grabbed the carving knife his mother left on the counter. The blood from the other agent had already dried, but Daniel barely noticed. He stormed right up to Agent Reid, and slid the jagged knife against Reid's lower back. Reid finally screamed. Daniel dragged the sharp edges down Reid's back and stopped right at the buttocks. He threw the knife on the table, and sat down by the window. His family was staring at him, but he didn't care. Why would he?

"Alrightie then," Benjamin said after a brief pause. "That's what happens when you talk back to me." Benjamin pushed Reid on the floor, and all of them got a good look at the bloody line Daniel left on his back. It wasn't that deep, but Daniel was sure it stung like hell. "Goin put this pretty boy away, and then we're comin back for you Aaron Hotchner!"

Benjamin picked Reid up by his hair, and barely waited for Reid to find his feet before he dragged him to the freezer. Reid stumbled on the way, but he kept his footing. Benjamin grabbed his handcuffs, and went to work securing Reid in a spot next to Miss Parker. Benjamin forced Reid into a sitting position, and restrained both of his wrists behind him. Daniel noticed that his father took a strong hold on the young agent's member and whispered something in his ear, but Daniel couldn't hear what. His father slapped Reid against the cheek, and left to get the other agent. Reid pulled both of his legs up to his chest.

Daniel snuck in as soon as he knew his father was gone. He sat across from Agent Reid, and looked him up and down. What qualified him to be an agent? He looked the same as any other man. He had two legs, two arms, a torso, and it looked like he had all of his fingers and toes. What made him good enough to work for the FBI? It certainly wasn't his body type. His body was going to be bruised badly by sunrise. His family wasn't gentle on him.

"Why does the other agent call you by your last name?" Daniel asked.

"You have a fever," Reid stated plainly.

"Don't go around telling me what I do and don't have," Daniel snapped. He was sick of getting bossed around, and he wasn't about to get bossed around by some virgin FBI guy.

"I thought you just might want to know," Reid said finally looking up at him. Reid had a black eye, and his lip was cut open, but he didn't look that bad. He still had the pretty boy look about him which Daniel loved.

"People look different naked," Daniel said motioning over to Miss Parker. Daniel crawled over to her, and sat next to her. Her skin was told to the touch. She felt like the corpse he kept under his bed, but he could see her breathing through her mouth. Daniel had a feeling she wouldn't be teaching ever again.

"Is that why you wanted to take our clothes off?" Reid asked. "That was your idea."

Daniel pulled a pocketknife from his jeans, and scooted over to Reid. The agent tensed up almost immediately. Daniel put the tiny knife on Reid's neck, and slowly pulled the blade down.

"What are you doing?" Reid asked.

"Nothing. Just looking," Daniel replied. "You get goose bumps easy."

Daniel took the knife back, and moved it to his teacher's neck. Her neck was shorter than Reid's was, but they were about the same skin color. She still wasn't awake. Reid looked more relaxed after Daniel took the blade away.

"She's pretty, isn't she?" Daniel asked. He moved her hair out of her face, and put the knife against her cheek.

"Daniel, right?"

"I was doing good in her class. I think I had the highest grades…Damn that fucker!" Daniel shouted. He scraped the knife roughly against one of her thighs, and stared when the blood started to fall.

"Who?" Reid asked.

"A kid in my class. All he does is pick on me day after day. I hate him," Daniel said as he touched the warm blood with his index finger. Miss Parker still wasn't awake.

"What's his name?"

"Shut up!" Daniel screamed. He jabbed his pocket knife in Reid's knee which erupted in a pained yell from the otherwise silent room. Daniel tore the knife out, and looked away to avoid watching the blood drip out like a waterfall. Reid was crying out in pain, but Daniel didn't care. Daniel felt like he couldn't breathe. His heard was racing, and he had to open his mouth just to get enough air. He stuck the knife back where it belonged, and he ran out of the freezer.

* * *

><p>Morgan sped all the way to Kate Parker's house. Rossi pointed out that if the unsubs trapped them in the forest, they probably knew where they went that night. They were being followed, and just the thought of that boiled Morgan's blood. Prentiss was going to be fine, but what about Hotch and Reid? Morgan didn't even have a steady idea of where they were being held. A reminder kept going through his brain that not one of the victims survived through the first night. What was going to stop them from killing his friends? How could he have been so stupid to let them go off on their own? The unsubs were calling Hotch and Reid, and he let them go somewhere together. Prentiss was with them, but she wouldn't be able to do much in a car crash.<p>

"What do you think we'll find here?" Rossi asked.

"I don't know," Morgan said honestly. He parked across the street from the house, and looked over at the yellow police tape blocking it off from trespassers. Morgan didn't think the sheriff let anyone in there since he told the team. The old sheriff couldn't believe that two agents were abducted on top of the teacher. He was on his way to look at the scene of the car accident, but Morgan told him all they knew. The unsubs had successfully taken two federal agents, and didn't leave a trace behind.

"The teacher was taken here," Morgan said getting out of the car. He put plastic gloves over his hands, and crossed the street. "If they left something behind, they left it here. They came into this woman's house, and they came armed."

Morgan and Rossi both slipped underneath the yellow tape, and were astounded to see the dead dog on the welcome mat. A stench was coming from the body, and Rossi had to look away. It was a difficult sight to look at, even for them. Morgan stepped closer to look at the bloody message calling out Hotch and Reid.

"This was done for shock value," Rossi said. "He wanted to scare them."

"He probably did," Morgan said stepping over the dog. He opened the door slowly, and switched on a light. The first thing he saw was the shattered vase on the floor. A rag was on the floor near it. Morgan moved away from that, and found a puddle of blood drying on the carpet near the kitchen. It didn't look like a struggle though. They only struggle was in the entry way.

"This is the dog's blood," Morgan concluded.

"See a weapon anywhere?" Rossi asked.

"No, but from the amount of blood over here, they used a knife on the dog."

"They subdued the teacher with something else," Rossi said. "There's a rag with a little bit of blood on it, but it's not a lot. They took her out with something else. Unless she knew them? Maybe she walked out willingly?"

"They killed her dog, and I'm pretty sure they did it while she was wide awake. They wouldn't have been able to take her easy. She was a feisty one. She handed her students well," Morgan said looking around. She had framed pictures of herself with friends above the television that was still playing, but nothing else looked touched. Her cell phone was still in her purse.

"I don't see anything here," Rossi said.

Morgan sighed loudly. He wanted to punch a wall. He wanted to throw that rag into the trash can, and he wanted to go searching through the forest all night with a flash light. The sheriff was already sending out a team of his own to go looking around the immediate surrounding area, but Morgan wanted to look himself.

"They aren't going to kill them tonight," Rossi said slowly.

"They shouldn't be there. Why did we let them go off together?" Morgan asked.

"The unsubs have never had more than two victims at one time, and Hotch and Reid are both trained to handle people like them."

"How do we know the teacher isn't already dead?" Morgan asked looking at one of her pictures.

"They took her right before they abducted part of the others. I can't guarantee she's still alive, but Hotch won't let her or Reid get hurt," Rossi said as he walked over to the vase. "I think she is still alive."

"A father and son sure have a lot of balls to kidnap three full grown people though," Morgan said thinking out loud.

"Unless it's more than a father and son? What if it's two sons?" Rossi asked. "There has to be some reason they took Parker…Wasn't the victim that got us out here in her class?"

"Audrey," Morgan said walking around the couch. "She was in his class."

"We need to talk to those students in Parker's class first thing tomorrow morning," Rossi said. "It is one of them. They know something. We can't do anything else tonight Morgan."

"We can't just sit around though. They need us to be looking!" Morgan insisted. He kept seeing the bodies they found in the woods in his mind, and his heart was racing. He couldn't let anything happen to Reid or Hotch. He couldn't. He didn't know why he felt responsible, but he did. Reid wasn't mentally able to handle anything like this. He was still recovering from his drug abuse, and Hotch was going through a lot with his wife. What would happen if they were separated? The unsubs could keep them in separate rooms or kill one tonight. Nothing was stopping them from committing that final act.

"Morgan, the sheriff was telling us how big this forest was the other day. He already has a team out there and dogs. I think we have a bigger chance of getting lost ourselves than finding anyone," Rossi said.

"I'm going to be researching every single one of those damned students tonight then," Morgan said. He opened the front door, and led them out. "I'm going to have a steady list of students to interview by the crack of dawn. The only reason a student shouldn't be there is if they are in a damned hospital."

"Are we going to mention what happened to Miss Parker?"

Morgan thought about it. There were pros and cons to both sides, but he didn't want to get all of the kids in some kind of panic. If he told them, they could start flipping out about a serial killer being on the loose in their small town. They might keep their mouths glued about any information they could have.

"It would be better not to tell them," Morgan concluded. "Tell them she had a sick day or something."

"Word gets around fast in a town like this," Rossi said. "They'll probably know the truth by the end of the day."

Morgan turned the car on, and they headed back to the station. Morgan wasn't expecting to hear any news from the sheriff or his team. If they found something good, they would have called him long ago. The moon was full that night, and the stars were glistening like thousands of diamonds in the sky. Morgan knew that Reid and Hotch were still alive. He could feel it. He just needed to find them before something terrible did happen.

_nice little chapter, right? lol. looks like every unsub is getting a tiny bit worse, espeically daniel, but yes. fun times. it is leading up 2 something. already have 2 characters with their fates planned out in my brain but the rest r still up n the air. try to guess which characters i thought out already lol. just wondering if daniel's every1's favorite still. he was by far the favorite n the last chapter. and what do u guys think should happen 2 hotch? i love to read ur guy's thoughts. review pweez! xoxo_


	12. Chapter 12

_and so here is chapter 12. sorry for the super long delay. i had to get a new computer cord cuz my old one broke and with a laptop with a dead battery, i NEEDED a new cord. so i got one and then ive been getting lovely messages on my computer telling me my hard drive wants to crash. so ive been flipping out and trying to save all my pix and stories and stuff. and right b4 christmas. its 2 sad. and then i got two puppies instead of just one. and i shall tell all of u right now, having 2 puppies isnt as fun as it sounds. they want to chew up everything in sight and refuse 2 b potty trained. its just lovely. warnings with the story...hotch gets pretty beat up...no dead animals tho =)_

The more he thought about it, the more Hotch liked the idea of being locked away in the freezer. That meant that none of them were going to die that night, and he would be able to have some time alone to talk to Reid. They were going to find a way out of this. Reid was brilliant. He just needed to concentrate, and the freezer would give them that time. Getting Kate and Reid out of there safely was his main concern. The house didn't look that big. His chair was right in between the kitchen and the family/living room, and the hallway just past that didn't look too long. He wondered how far out in the woods they were. He couldn't remember the car ride there at all.

"So is the skinny kid your son?" the man who called himself Benjamin asked as he walked back in the room.

"What do you think?" Hotch replied.

Benjamin pulled a chair out from the table, and sat across from Hotch. Laura and Joseph were both returning from the freezer, but Hotch didn't see the youngest son anywhere. He didn't like that at all.

"You're an interestin guy Mister Hotchner," Benjamin said with a grin. "You know, I cudda been just like you if I finished school."

"You wanted to work for the FBI?"

"Oh no, I ain't dumb. I just was goin be successful. I wanted to get loads of money, and I wudda if I didn't get married first. Got married, had kids, and that was that. You got kids?"

"I have a son," Hotch said. "What started you doing this?"

"You got no God-given right to ask me questions," Benjamin snapped. "Ready Joseph?"

"Ready Pa," Joseph said smiling from behind table.

"Ready Mister agent guy?" Benjamin asked Hotch. "Ready to be a man?"

"I don't think taking my clothes off makes me a man," Hotch stated.

Joseph pushed his chair away from the wall, and Benjamin stood up and stretched out his arms. Why was it necessary to beat him when they untied him?

"Hold on everyone," Laura called from the kitchen. "Let me get the camera!"

"Women…" Benjamin mumbled. "Good for nothing. Joseph, get the ropes off him, but handcuff him. I don't want any funny business."

The boy went to work right away. Hotch felt the knots become looser, but he could barely move his fingers before the handcuffs replaced the rope. It was smoother against his wrists, but he was fairly certain none of them had the keys to get the handcuffs off. Joseph repeated the process with Hotch's ankles, and while Hotch didn't miss the rope, his feet felt colder.

"Here, take a picture of me with him," Laura said. She hurried over to Hotch, and got on her knees so she was closer to his level. Benjamin fumbled around with the camera, but Hotch couldn't believe the woman was smiling. She was actually posing for this photo.

"Hurry up dad," Joseph complained.

"Give me a second. I was never good at these damned things," Benjamin said. He turned the camera over, and the flash went off which blinded Hotch for a moment.

"Take one more just for good measure," Laura said. She put her hand on Hotch's chest, and stood up so she could kiss his cheek. Hotch was disgusted. The camera flashed once more, and Laura twisted one of his nipples. He didn't make a sound, but she giggled with delight.

"You ready boy?" Benjamin asked. Laura got out of the way, and Joseph shoved Hotch's shoulders. "Stand up," Benjamin commanded.

Hotch curled his toes, and took a deep breath. His leg was broken. He knew that much, and he didn't think he would be able to stand on one leg for very long. He couldn't give them the satisfaction out backing out though. He pushed himself off the chair with the help of his hands, but he collapsed the second he put any weight on his wounded leg. He landed with a loud crash, and the vicious laughter of the people around him.

"Didn't teach you people how to stand in school?" Benjamin asked laughing.

Hotch growled under his breath. He grabbed the seat of the chair, and lifted himself back up. He remembered not to put any weight on his leg, but it was harder than it looked. He was able to stand up with the help of the chair, but he was unsteady on his feet. It didn't help at all that Laura stabbed the leg with a fork earlier. It was still hurting from that.

Joseph kicked Hotch from behind. Hotch didn't know why he wasn't expecting that. He had seen them beating Reid until he was black and blue, but the only thing he was thinking about was in what terrible shape his leg was in. Hotch fell on the floor, and without the help of the hands behind his back, he fell right on the leg. He couldn't help but scream out in pain.

"Back on your feet!" Benjamin shouted. "Now!"

Without any sense of grace or even direction, Hotch stumbled back up. He didn't even try to lean against the chair. He knew he was going back down again. Benjamin lifted up his leg, and kicked Hotch in the stomach. Hotch coughed, but he didn't fall. Hotch managed to keep himself up with his good leg, and looked back at Benjamin.

"That the best you can do?" Hotch asked quietly. He regretted what he asked instantly. He wouldn't be good to anyone if they killed him, and knew that was their ultimate plan.

Benjamin kicked him again, but he didn't pause like the last time. He kicked Hotch again and again until Hotch lost count. His stomach was killing him, and he was getting dizzy. Joseph joined him the beating with his baseball bat. The bat slammed against Hotch's upper back, and Hotch fell to the floor face first. He twisted his body around in agony, but he didn't say anything.

"Don't kill him yet. I wanted to play with him tomorrow. Me and him got some explorin to do," Laura said smiling.

"Fine," Benjamin said. "Put the bat down Joseph. Back on your feet Agent Hotchner," Benjamin commanded.

Hotch didn't want to get back on his feet. He didn't want to move. His body was aching all over, and the whole room was making him dizzy, but he obeyed. He took a deep breath, and struggled to obey Benjamin. He had to do it. He couldn't leave Reid to deal with them on his own, and his son needed him. He would never leave Jack.

"Daniel?" Benjamin asked looking around.

"Let me take his pants off!" Laura said giggling. She pushed her husband aside, and walked right up to Hotch.

"Lay one finger on my wife, and there's going to be a bullet between virgin's eyes. Understand?" Benjamin warned him.

Hotch wanted to attack the woman, and leave her body out for the wolves that night, but he shook his head in agreement. He couldn't make any rash decisions. Laura took off his belt first, and handed it over to her husband. Benjamin didn't take his eyes off of Hotch, and Hotch didn't take his eyes off of Benjamin. He wanted the fat drunk to know exactly what he was thinking, and that if he had his gun, Benjamin's body would already be decaying somewhere.

"You excited?" Laura whispered.

"You need to stop this," Hotch told her without any hope of her actually responding.

Laura snapped his pants open, and slowly pulled the zipper down. She was giggling the entire time as she pulled his pants down his legs. Hotch broke the gaze with Benjamin to look at his leg. An angry bruise spread apart his lower thigh, and all of the hair was matted around the still wet blood. He wished that Kate was a doctor instead of a teacher, but Laura didn't notice at all.

"Purple boxers? Didn't see that one coming," Laura said musing.

Laura grabbed him through the boxers, and squeezed him in her hand. Hotch held his breath, but he needed to find some way to stop this now. Why didn't they just put him in the freezer like the others? He wanted to bargain with them, but the only things they wanted were the things he was not willing to give.

"Why are you rushing things?" Hotch asked stumbling over his words. "The kids have school in the morning, and we have all day tomorrow."

"You're right," Laura said reluctantly. "You still didn't do your Math, did ya Joseph?" Laura asked harshly.

"Ma, we were busy," Joseph started.

"Go do your Math now!" she yelled at him. "I ain't goin see you get another failin grade young man. If you want to play with all them tomorrow, you get your homework done!"

"I'm goin, I'm goin," Joseph muttered.

Hotch watched him disappear around the hall, and wondered again where Daniel was. He didn't hear any distressed noises coming from any of the rooms, and so he had to assume that Reid and Kate were alright. Hotch couldn't put his finger why, but Daniel was the one who scared Hotch the most. There was something about that boy that gave Hotch shivers.

"Where's Daniel?" Laura asked her husband.

"How the hell should I know?" he responded. "Hey, hand me that baseball bat."

Laura bent over, and tossed him the wooden bat. Hotch looked at her, and then looked back at Benjamin. They were going to knock him out with that thing. They didn't knock Reid out when they took him away. Why would they want to do that to him? His stomach was rolling around, and his leg was burning. The last thing he needed was to be knocked unconscious.

"Sir," Hotch began. "I can barely walk. I don't think you need to use that bat on me."

"Don't matter," Benjamin answered. "I wanna. It's good exercise."

Benjamin raised the bat above his head, and Hotch braced himself for the hit. He wanted to duck, and to run out of the room as fast as he could, but he wasn't able. He was surprised he was still standing, but even if he could run, he wouldn't. If he disappeared, it would mean certain death for Kate and Reid. Hotch lifted his gaze so he would be able to stare into Benjamin's eyes, but he saw nothing when he looked into the black eyes. He just prayed this blow wouldn't mean his death. The bat swung down, and collided with the front of Hotch's head. He was knocked off his feet, and after a few agonizing moments, his mind faded into blackness.

* * *

><p>Rossi sat next to Morgan as he poured over photos of the students that Garcia sent. Morgan was taking the abduction the worst of all. Rossi knew that he blamed himself, but they all did. He didn't know if immediately assuming one of the students were involved was a wise idea, but it was really all they had to go on. The girls decided that waiting until morning to talk to Travis was a good idea. Prentiss was demanding to go along, and none of them were willing to get lost in the woods. For the past hour or so, all of them were pouring all of their ideas and thoughts in the students they looked at and all of the people, men and women, who held a record at the local police station. Garcia and J.J. eventually fell asleep on the couch in the lobby, and Prentiss was starting to nod off.<p>

"Not that many offenders here," Rossi commented to break the silence. "Mostly traffic tickets. I don't see any sexual crimes, and even the murders look like they were one time deals."

"Two guys fought over daddy's inheritance," Prentiss said. "One shot the other, spent a few years in jail. That's like the worst thing I see here."

"The murders cannot be this guy's first run in with the law," Morgan said. "He knew exactly where to hide the bodies so he wouldn't be found, and he's managed to avoid the police until now. He's not new to this."

"I still don't understand why they wanted the teacher, and Reid and Hotch. The most they have ever taken was two," Prentiss said.

"And they ended up dead in the morning," Rossi said quietly.

Morgan slammed his fist on the table in anger, and several of the photos fell on the rug. No one bothered picking them up. All of them felt that same anger.

"Maybe they took the teacher as a distraction only," Prentiss said. "It was a way to get us out, and they knew exactly where we would be."

"But why the teacher? Out of everyone in the town, why her?" Rossi asked.

"I don't think it was random," Morgan said.

"It could have been another teacher or someone working in the school," Rossi said looking over the remaining photographs. "They also knew the FBI was in town, and they knew which classroom we were in. I think we need to start looking over the faculty."

"Do you think the older unsub could be another teacher?" Morgan asked.

"He would know the town well, probably lived here for a while, and he would know where to hide bodies away from peeping eyes," Rossi said. "I think, if it is a teacher, he will be a male, but I'm still not sure that the unsub is a working man. The bodies were dropped off during school hours, but the younger partner could have dropped them off."

"Or he could be working part time," Morgan added.

"But we still can't rule students out," Rossi said. "But let's open our possibilities. Hotch and Reid need us."

"I don't think the unsubs are going to kill any of them tonight," Morgan said.

"Sixth sense?" Rossi asked.

"They've wanted Reid and Hotch since we got here. They won't get them, and then kill them an hour later. They want them for a reason."

* * *

><p>Reid's body was tired, but he couldn't bring himself to sleep. Hotch was sitting across from him with his hands behind his back, but his legs were spread out in front of him. Reid was slightly jealous that Hotch got to keep his underpants, but he looked really beat up. The older man looked like he suffered from more bruises than Reid got. Reid had memorized every inch of their new prison, but he didn't see anything that was of any use to them. The shelves were too far out of reach, and the only thing that his fingers could touch was the old pipe that they were tied to.<p>

"What happened?" a groggy voice next to him asked. Kate had been knocked out of it since Reid got there. A few hours had gone by, and while it was getting late, he was thankful to not be alone.

"Are you alright?" Reid asked her.

"I have a headache," she said slowly. She lifted her head from her chest, and looked around the room. When she realized what was happening, it hit her quick. She bent her legs to cover herself, and tried scooting closer to the wall. Reid's legs were already by his ribcage, but he couldn't do much else. His hands were firmly secured behind him.

"It's okay. They're gone," Reid said quietly. He didn't know why he was being quiet. The family couldn't hear anything that was going on behind the freezer door.

"Where are we?" she asked. She spotted Hotch across the room, but she focused back on the door locking them in.

"A freezer that has seen better days," Reid answered.

"One of you said that the rest of your team is coming?" she asked looking at him. "Will they be here soon? Do they know our exact location?"

Reid could see the hope in her eyes, but his team didn't really know where they were. Their chances of survival weren't that bad as long as they could stay together. Reid didn't want any of them to be separated. They would be able to protect each other, and Reid was sure that Hotch could find loopholes that would help them get out of there alive.

"They have the profile," Reid finally said.

"The profile?" Kate asked. "What's that? Do they know where we are?"

"They know the type of people that they are looking for," Reid said as he tried to figure out a way to explain this to her. "Our profile was accurate for the most part. We just underestimated the amount of unsubs, but everything else was right. The team will probably be going back to the school because we were at your house right before the accident."

"So they don't know where we are?" Kate asked.

"They are looking for the right kind of people," Reid said. "But, no, they don't know exactly where we are."

"That bastard killed my dog," she said under her breath. "I was going to go to the police tomorrow. I thought Daniel was getting abused at home. Guess I was wrong."

"You're his teacher? Can you tell me about him?" Reid asked looking towards her. The more he knew about Daniel, the better.

"He's very smart," she managed to say. Usually, whenever Reid spoke with the victims, they were in the safety of an office or police station. He tried to imagine what she was going through, but it was hard to think of anything other than the chain keeping him in that room.

"How old is he?"

"He's fifteen," she said slowly. She looked like she was going to add more when the door to their prison opened. Reid felt himself holding his breath. He didn't even know why. If that heavy set man came in there, Reid didn't know what he would be able to do to protect Hotch or Kate or even himself. He was slightly relieved when he saw it was Daniel who opened the door, but not by much. Daniel had one of his hands on the side of his head, and a paper held in the other.

Daniel shut the door behind him, and strolled past Reid and right up to Kate. Hotch had still not woken up from the commotion, but Reid was wishing more and more than he still had clothes on.

"How long does the paper have to be again?" Daniel asked his teacher once he sat down.

"What?" she asked after a moment of silence. She glanced over at Reid and then back to Daniel. She looked terrified.

"The paper that is due in the morning…how long does it have to be?" he asked again.

"Three to four pages," Kate said.

"I just can't believe that Alexandra would ever have an affair with that man. I know that he was helping her son, but I thought she was devoted to her husband," Daniel said looking over his notes.

"The paper won't be due tomorrow," Kate said.

"What do you mean? Of course it is due tomorrow," Daniel said.

"I won't be in class tomorrow," Kate said. "Your father wants to kill me. I won't be able to teach you anymore if I am dead."

"You're easily replaceable," Daniel said never looking up from his papers.

"Daniel," Kate whispered. "Do you even know what death is?"

"I know," Daniel said. He put the papers down to the side and scooted closer to her. "The last breath usually isn't as dramatic as it is in the movies, but it's a sight to see. I've noticed that most people die with their eyes open unless they die when they are sleeping. I've only seen one person die in their sleep so far. Your organs will shut down one by one. Your body will get really cold, just like ice, and it will get really stiff. It might stink a little at first, but it's getting colder at nighttime so your body might smell alright. The skin will rot away, and you really won't look much different than dead animals I find in the forest. The last thing that goes is the hair, and you have really pretty hair. When I was younger, I liked to sneak away and watch the bodies decompose. I would even touch them. I wasn't afraid. Why in the world would I be afraid of something that will never hurt me?"

"Daniel…" Kate said again.

"Alexandra was never having an affair," Reid said suddenly. He needed to get this kid's thoughts off of decaying bodies and death. "She was devoted to her husband like you were saying. The public just assumed an affair was going on because they had no idea how sickly the heir was."

"How do you know?" Daniel asked. He was moving closer to Reid with interest in his dull eyes.

"I like to read a lot," Reid said quickly.

"So do I," Daniel said smiling. "Would you mind looking over my paper? I can leave it here in front of you."

"Could we get some water first please?" Reid asked. "All of us?"

"Fine," Daniel said. He hopped up, and sped out of the room. He didn't forget to shut and lock the door behind him.

"He wants to kill me," Kate said.

"He's getting us water," Reid told her. "Nothing will happen tonight. He seems more concerned about getting a good grade on that paper than hurting us."

"What do you need me to do?" Kate asked.

"Just play along," Reid said. "He's delusional, and he switches emotions quickly. He's a lot different than the rest of his family."

The door opened loudly before Reid could finish his thoughts. Daniel was struggling to hold three plastic cups of water in his hands. He put one down in front of Hotch, and set the other two by Reid and Kate.

"I only found one straw, but you guys can share it," Daniel said. He stuck the straw in Kate's cup, and offered it to her. She kept her knees by her chest, but she drank. She drank a lot, and Reid knew it would be good for her concussions. Reid drank next, and was thrilled to find out that it was actual tap water and not something that the kid just found laying around the house. Daniel kept the cups close to them once they were done. He sat next to Reid, and picked his paper up.

"Do you want me to hold it in front of you while you read?" he asked.

"Yeah," Reid said. It only took a few seconds to finish the first page, but he was surprised to find out how good of a writer Daniel was. It was good enough to belong to some Master's program. Daniel could easily transfer to some university if he tried hard enough.

"This paper is looking really good," Reid said honestly. He couldn't even find any grammar errors. This kid knew how to write an excellent paper.

"Page two?" Daniel asked with a smile.

"Page two," Reid said. The second page was much like the first, but Daniel was going into deeper arguments about the royal family. Reid didn't see any mention of the man that Daniel was so concerned about, and as Reid read the last two pages of the paper, Rasputin's name never came up. Reid thought that was odd, but he wouldn't mention it. Reid was less concerned about the paper though than studying the boy in front of him.

Nothing special stood out about Daniel's appearance. He didn't have the best skin, but he wasn't terrible to look at. He was a lot skinnier than his older brother, and Reid noticed how Daniel barely touched the food on his plate during dinner. The second hand clothes he was wearing hung loose on the thin frame, and his dark hair looked unwashed. He was smarter than his older brother, probably smarter than his parents as well, but Reid sensed he didn't strive for that much in school. In a way, Reid almost felt sorry for him. He would be the target for pranks by the bigger boys at school, and no one understood him at home. No wonder his teacher was trying so hard to help him, but there was something else. Reid couldn't put his finger on it, but something else was wrong.

"Is your dream job to be a historian?" Reid asked finally looking away from the paper.

"Is it good?" Daniel asked.

"I'm sure you will get an A," Reid said.

"Thanks for looking it over," Daniel said. "I was worried about it, and Pa never wants to look over my work."

"Anytime," Reid replied. "You have really good writing skills."

"Good night Agent Reid," Daniel said lifting himself up. "Good night Miss Parker. Don't forget to say your bedtime prayers!"

He shut and locked the door behind him. Reid tried to listen for any steps going back down the hallway, but the heavy door blocked any outside sounds.

"Sweet kid," Hotch said with a grunt.

"Hotch?" Reid asked. "How are you feeling?"

"I've only been awake for a few minutes," Hotch said. "I heard you talking with him, and I just wanted to know what he was saying. Do you think he suffers from bi-polar? He was acting like a completely different person when he was in here than when he was in the kitchen."

"Not completely," Reid argued. "If it was personality disorder, I'd say he fit more into the category of being borderline personality disorder, but I don't think that's it."

"What then?" Hotch was already pulling at the chain holding him in place.

"I don't know," Reid said. He was tired, he was sore, and it was cold in that room. His back wanted to freeze whenever he tried to lean against the wall, and he had convinced himself that he needed to keep his toes moving if he didn't want to suffer from frostbite in the morning. "How is your leg?"

"My leg is fine," Hotch said. "The father and older boy both have anti-social disorder. The mother probably does as well. They have a door by the kitchen, one in the living room, and I'm sure there is another one in the back. I don't know how far away from town we are."

"The boys walk to school sometimes," Kate said. "It can't be that far."

"Don't most of the kids walk to school here?" Reid asked.

"Yes," Kate said.

"I'm going to get you both out here," Hotch said after giving up on the handcuffs. His eyes were scanning over the room, but he wouldn't be able to find anything. Reid had been looking since he got there. The only hope he could think of was if one of them was able to break free, and run back to civilization. As beautiful as that sounded, it wouldn't be easy for the two that were left behind. The MO was changed for the time being. All three of them were still alive, and they still had their faces fully intact. Only one of them had been sexually abused, and Reid still shivered at the thought of it. All he could do was watch, and that made him sick.

"How will you get us out of here if you can't walk?" Kate asked. She coughed after the question, but she covered it up with her knee.

"Because if a man like that out there can manage to support an entire family without a job, I can get out of here without the help of one leg," Hotch firmly said.

"I'm sorry," Kate replied. "I'm sure you guys have dealt with tons of cases like this before."

"Every case is different," Hotch said. "But we're going to get out of here. We just need to find out exactly what we are dealing with."

"A family of psychopaths," Reid said quietly. He felt their eyes staring at him, but he was telling the truth. There was no other way to describe this family except that they might be closely related to Satan in some way, but Reid didn't bring that up.

* * *

><p>Daniel fell asleep easily that night. The headaches stopped bothering him after he talked to the skinny agent, and his father's snoring from across the hallway didn't keep him awake like it usually did. He woke up the next morning to a fog casting shadows across his window. He loved days like that with the sun remained hidden behind black clouds. The sunlight was never really his friend. He didn't consider himself gothic in the least. He just didn't like the sun. He threw on an old pair of jeans with the shirt he wore yesterday. He would grab the jacket to wear outside before he left. He didn't need it inside.<p>

Joseph was already on the couch, mindlessly putting corn flakes into his mouth. Daniel didn't see him doing any homework last night, but he would be able to come up with some brilliant excuse as to why the work wasn't done. He had a way of charming teachers that Daniel was never able to master.

"Sweet dreams honey?" Laura asked from the kitchen.

"Great. Where's Pa?" Daniel asked. He made his way into the kitchen, and poured some tap water into a cup.

"Making sure that those people in the freezer are still alive. If one of them died, I got some carving to do. I was always the best pumpkin carver in this town," Laura said proudly. "What do you want for breakfast? I'm sure there's some cereal left."

"Not hungry," Daniel said.

"Everyone made it through the night!" a powerful voice came from the hallway. "Got a little beat up, but they are still strong enough to argue with me. God, I wish I had a working gun."

"Don't stress yourself out!" Laura told him.

Daniel's father came out from the hallway still wearing his night clothes. His greasy hair hung down on his face, and his big belly was sticking out from his shirt. Daniel said a silent prayer that he would never end up like that. Daniel finished his water, grabbed his jacket and backpack, and waited outside for Joseph. He didn't want to talk to his father that morning. It wasn't even that cold outside. The crisp air made his nose tingle, and he watched for any movement from the woods in front of him. He loved watching the deer come out in the early mornings, but he couldn't see anything except for his own breath in the cold air.

He didn't talk with his brother on the walk to school. It was a Friday, and Joseph wouldn't shut up about the girls he wanted to 'bang' that weekend. Daniel didn't care about girls. He wanted to go back home and get to know Agent Reid better. It wasn't often that he met people who actually remembered what they read, and what were the odds that Reid would know about Russian history? That was just amazing. His headaches stopped whenever he was talking to the young agent. There had to be some connection between them. His headaches were back in full swing by the time they reached school. He went to Miss Parker's classroom without saying one word to Joseph. He took his seat by the window, and started doodling on his notebook like he did every morning. He liked to draw, and it usually calmed him down. It was hard to erase his worried mind when he knew that Reid was alone with his father. He didn't want to go home to find all of them dead.

"Ha!" Freddie shouted from the back of the room. "It's 7:46 and she's not here! You know the rule guys!"

"It doesn't work that way," Lilli told him. "You only get to leave 10 minutes after the start time if the teacher doesn't show up, and that's for college."

"It works for here too," Freddie argued.

"And besides, she'll be here any minute and she's goin kick your butt for acting like an idiot," Lilli said.

"I don't think she is coming," Mary said. "My mom drove me to school today, and we were passing her house and I saw a bunch of yellow police tape. Like a bunch of it, all over her front lawn."

"Police tape? What happened?" Lilli asked.

"I don't know, but it was scary. There were police cars and everything!" Mary exclaimed.

"Settle down class," a man shouted from the front of the room. Daniel didn't even notice him coming in because he was more interested in what his peers were saying. It was the darker agent that was always hanging around Reid and Hotch. Daniel forgot his name, but it was definitely him. He was wearing black jeans with a black tee shirt on, but most of the shirt was covered up in a jacket. He wasn't dressed much warmer than Daniel was. An older man stood beside him wearing dark pants with a thicker jacket.

"Are you one of those cops?" a kid in the front row asked.

"My name is Derek Morgan, and I'm here with the FBI. I just have a couple of questions to ask you guys," he said.

"What happened to Miss Parker?" Lilli asked.

"How many of you guys have cell phones?" Morgan asked loudly, completely ignoring Lilly.

"There was yellow police tape in front of her house!" Mary shouted. "What happened to her? Is she alright?"

Daniel looked up long enough to see Morgan glance over at the other agent. This wasn't planned. They weren't supposed to talk about her, and Daniel was positive that they wouldn't tell the students that two of their own agents had gone missing. He would rather be in an actual class listening to a lecture, but he didn't mind the FBI. It gave him time to work on his drawing. The blue inked dragon was taking up the majority of the notebook paper, and it was rather good if he said so himself. He could make it better if he could add color to it, but he didn't feel it would be a good idea if he raised his hand and asked for markers.

"Miss Parker was abducted last night," Morgan finally told the class. A few of the students gasped, but not many. Most of them were busy making artistic masterpieces in their own notebooks or trying to text without a federal officer noticing.

"Several of you live near her?" the other agent asked. "Did any of you see anything suspicious last night? Anything at all?"

No students raised their hands to volunteer information. There wasn't anyone else on the street last night. Daniel checked several times before he even approached her house. It was a dead block, and nighttime was the perfect concealer.

"How many of you have cell phones?" Morgan asked. "I can count six of you right now."

The embarrassed students stuck their phones back into their bags. Daniel paid no attention. It would be more entertaining to turn his paper in and pass with flying colors, and the agent's loud voice was making his headache worse.

"I'm going to make this perfectly clear," Morgan told them as he started walking down their aisles. "This isn't some fancy game we're playing, and I'm not giving you the option to listen to me or to drown me out. You are going to listen to me."

Morgan stopped at Daniel's desk, and looked down at the drawing. Morgan made eye contact with him for just a moment before throwing the notebook on the ground. Daniel didn't move to retrieve it. He had no right to do that, and the drawing was ruined now. The paper was bent against its will, and the dirt from the floor found a new home on a blue dragon.

"People's lives are at stake here, and six of you were texting and eleven were drawing on scrap paper. You guys aren't little kids anymore, and you need to know what is happening. Time is not on our side, and you might not see your teacher ever again if you don't listen to me."

"I thought they only kill out of towners and Audrey," Freddie mumbled.

"They changed their MO," Morgan snapped back. "How many of you have cell phones?"

Daniel glared at him as he walked back to the front of the room. He was never going to find his friends, and if by some miracle he did, they'd already be dead. Morgan was taking down the names of the students that had cell phones, but Daniel didn't pick up his fallen masterpiece. He didn't want it anymore. Instead, he brought his wandering mind to rest by staring out the window at the musty day outside. He wished he was out with the trees than sitting in some antique desk.

* * *

><p>"Breakfast time!" Laura shouted as she opened up the freezer door. Her three friends lifted up their heads as she walked in with two bowls of cereal. She put the bowls down when she shut the door, but she was careful not to spill them. She put more than enough milk in them, and so they spilled easily.<p>

She never had to feed any of the people that Benjamin brought home before. These were the very first, but she wasn't complaining. In fact, she was thinking that she might like it. The teacher and skinny agent were sitting with their legs all the way to their chests to hide their bodies. It was amusing. Kate had the exact same plumbing that Laura did, and all of them saw Agent Reid's limp friend last night. The handsome man on the other side had his legs crossed in front of him, and he didn't seem as anxious as the other two. Laura liked that.

"Just some corn flakes," she told them. "But Joseph loves them so I figured, you guys would too. Who wants to go first?"

"I was hoping for something home made," Hotch said.

"You think I can cook hot stuff?" Laura asked getting down on her knees. "Those hotdogs y'all got last night is the closest to cooking that I do. I do have other skills though…"

"I'm hungry," Kate suddenly said.

Laura looked the younger woman up and down, but gave in. She did come here to feed them after all. She could play hide and seek with the agents later. She scooted over to the teacher, and waited until she opened her mouth before shoving the corn flakes in. Kate coughed at the rude jab, but Laura wasn't going to waste time. She shoved another spoonful in before Kate recovered from the first. Girls didn't need to eat much anyway. They needed to keep their hourglass image. That was one of the reasons why Laura liked the pretty teacher. She was naturally thin.

"No more for you," Laura said after a few spoonfuls. She scooted closer to Reid, and ran her hand across his pale chest. He was getting more uncomfortable the minute.

"Where's your husband?" Reid asked.

"Think he's watching Maurey," Laura said. She stopped playing with Reid's chest, and got a spoonful of soggy corn flakes. "Open wide!"

Reid coughed most of the first bite onto the floor. Laura was happy that he missed her lap, but she wasn't smiling when she saw how much food he wasted. Food wasn't free, and it took forever to raise enough money to go shopping at the grocery store.

"You're done," she said smacking him across the cheek. He closed his eyes during the slap, but he didn't make a sound. "You need to learn how to stop wasting food!"

She scooted over to the handsome agent with the second bowl of cereal. She was sure that he would eat all of it, and he deserved to. It couldn't be easy to look like a male model. He opened his mouth before she even got the cereal in the spoon. She was more delicate with him, and made extra care not to choke him. He finished most of the bowl when he turned his head away.

"I've had enough," he said smiling.

"You are such a tease," Laura said putting the bowl down. "I can't wait to see more of you."

"Okay Laura," a voice shouted from behind the closed door. Benjamin opened the door less than a second later with a beer in one of his hands. "I do believe it's time now to teach the virgin boy some lessons the FBI never taught him."

"I'd rather have Mister Pierce teach me some lessons," she said twirling one of the hairs on the agent's chest.

"Would you get off him woman?" Benjamin said kicking one of the bowls of cereal over. Laura wasn't going to clean up that mess. He spilled it so he could clean it up.

"I would love it if we go someplace more private," Hotchner told her. She licked her lips, but Benjamin was already getting the other agent on his feet. The boy almost fell down, but her husband had a strong hold on the handcuffs.

"Maybe another time," Laura whispered to Hotchner. "We's just going to have a fun time with the kid first. I've got ways of teachin him how to make his little friend dance." Laura laughed loudly at her own joke. Benjamin dragged Reid out of the freezer without Laura's help. She picked up the two bowls, but left the mess in the floor. She was not going to clean that up.

"We can do whatever you want if you bring the kid back," Hotch said quickly. "I'm sure I have a few things I could teach you as well."

"Don't be such a worry wart," she said smiling. "You're turn is next."

_yay for chapter 12. i wasnt even going to have it up so soon but more than one of u have been writing and asking so here it is lol. ill try to have the next chapter up sooner. its just super hard 2 be writing 4 unsubs. thats more than ive ever done b4. and daniel isnt the easiest guy 2 work with lol. but ya. plz review! xoxo. oh and merry christmas every1!_


	13. Chapter 13

_in my own fun lil mind, this is the 13th chapter and im uploading this on friday the 13th. its after midnight, but i dont consider it the next day until i wake up in my lil bed in the morning so ya. friday the 13th has the 13th chapter. go me! this was the only thing i accomplished 2day and its a pretty big deal seeing as my laptop crashed and my new one wont be here till early feb. u guys have no idea how bad this sux until u have it happen 2 ur laptops. im at the mercy of my mom cuz she is the only one with a laptop and hers just SUX. ok, done with my rant. warnings: lots of language and i mean LOTS of it, um theres some beatings, a rape, um more foul language. i cant warn u guys enough of how bad this chapter is lol. its worse than anything i wrote for secrets of the manor so enjoy!_

Joseph sat bored in the back of his second period math class. He was failing, but that really wasn't any kind of incentive for him to pay attention. The entire school knew something was wrong when they noticed the black SUVs parked out front that morning, and the news that one of the teachers was missing spread like wildfire throughout the small school. Joseph didn't know what idiot started the rumor, but for some reason, a lot of the students thought the principal was the missing faculty member even though she had been seen walking around the building all damned morning. Joseph wanted to tell everyone that it was the hot history teacher who was gone, but he had learned how to keep his mouth shut. If he wanted to have a fun night, he couldn't tell anyone about the people tied up in the freezer back at home.

Peter kicked the chair of the braided girl sitting in front of him. She turned around to yell at him, but he pretended to be taking notes of the problems on the board. She looked down at his notebook and then at him, but he took no notice. She sighed, and turned back around to the front of the room. Peter grinned, and high fived Joseph. If Joseph ever was stupid enough to tell his secret, Peter would be the listening man. They had been friends since grade school, and unlike other friendships, theirs had never been broken up by some slut. Pete told him once, in confidence, that he wanted to be a lawyer and go to a good college after high school. Pete wasn't stupid. He was one of the smartest kids at the school, but his dream wasn't going to happen. People from their town never amounted to anything in the end. The only superstar from their town was a football player named Stan. He was a celebrity in their town, and all of the townsfolk knew that boy was going somewhere, but he was killed in a car accident almost a decade ago. There hadn't been any superstars since then.

"Parents gone this weekend," Pete whispered to them when the fat ass teacher finally turned his back. "I can get some booze if you get the girls."

The only future that Joseph saw in Pete McDonald's chart was becoming one of the most successful pimps the world ever saw. It was rare to find someone as good looking as Pete was in a small town. The dork didn't have any idea how handsome he was, and he kept thinking it was luck only that got all the freshman girls in his bedroom during the cold nights. He could probably have a good career as a model, but Pete was never going down that route. He thought modeling was for fags, and since Joseph agreed, the topic was never brought up again.

"Can't," Joseph told him. "I got a girl at my place tonight."

"Really? Who? An outta town girl?" Pete asked.

"She's hot," Joseph said licking his lips. Joseph was getting hard in his pants just thinking about the teacher's long legs. He needed to stop.

"When can I meet her?" Pete asked with his green eyes sparkling.

"Soon," Joseph said, but he was quickly becoming at a loss of words. The teacher had stopped talking long ago, and the black agent that was wandering around the school was walking in their classroom. He was looking over the students while the math teacher quietly spoke to him. If Joseph had a gun right then, he would shoot that bastard straight between the eyes. The fucker would be dead before he hit the ground.

"Class, I would like to introduce you Agent Morgan," Mr. Keaton announced. "He is with the FBI, and he is here to talk to you."

"Yes!" Peter whispered. "We're missing class for this!"

Joseph could only nod. He wondered if the jerk would bring up that two of the agents were missing as well as the hot teacher. Joseph wasn't going to bring it up.

"All of you need to pay attention to me," Morgan said loudly. "No texting, no doodling, no whispering," he said looking directly at Pete.

"None of us knew the missing teacher!" Tommy shouted from the back. "She taught juniors. We're seniors!"

"Shut your mouth Peterson!" Mr. Keaton warned with a finger pointed towards the blonde kid who had spoken out of turn. Joseph and Pete kept their mouths shut.

"Miss Parker went missing late last night after she got home from school," Morgan said as he walked up and down the aisles. "I am not here to go into any details of her abduction, but we know it's by the same people who murdered one of your fellow students not too long ago."

"There was blood on her door," Mary Sue said. She was not reprimanded for speaking out of turn. In fact, the teacher looked to Agent Morgan for confirmation.

"You walk to school?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, and I knew her," Mary Sue told him. "She was going to help us get ready for the prom this year. She knew how bad prom sucked last year, and she really wanted to help us by getting everything ready early. She promised us an awesome band."

"Did anyone notice any kind of vans or trucks last night around this area?" Morgan asked. No one spoke up. "Did anyone see a van or truck this morning with some kind of front end damage?"

"Why would there be damage?" Tommy asked.

"We are pretty sure that the vehicle was in a car accident last night," Morgan said after a pause.

Joseph smiled. Morgan was pretty sure there was an accident? He had to be more than 'pretty sure'. It was a nasty crash for sure. The older agent had a beat up leg, and something was hurting bad inside the skinny agent's chest. He wondered if Morgan knew that Hotch liked to wear purple boxers.

"Why are you smiling?" Morgan asked. Joseph didn't even see Morgan come down his row, and now the agent was standing right beside him looking down at his desk.

"Because Keaton's shoe lace is untied," Joseph said quickly. "I was waiting for him to trip."

The class all looked to see if Joseph was right about the shoelace, and then the room erupted in laughter. Morgan was the only one not laughing. He looked Joseph in the eye, and Joseph wanted nothing more than that man to bleed. He was trying to embarrass Joseph in front of his class. Joseph wasn't stupid enough to attack the black man at school, in front of everybody, and he wasn't dumb enough to try and hurt the agent on the street. What Joseph could do was hurt Morgan's friends. He knew how close this ass was to Agent Reid. Most of the time, Morgan was with Reid when they went out. Joseph didn't know if they were partnered together or some shit like that, but he knew that they had to be friends. He probably wasn't strong enough to hurt Hotch yet, but he knew that he could give Agent Reid hell. Reid would probably be more fun than the teacher. Joseph never did a dude before, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked it. He just wished that Morgan would be around to see it, but Hotch would probably be telling him all about it later on if he survived, but he wouldn't. No one ever lived after coming to his house. His parents made sure of that.

* * *

><p>Benjamin took another gulp of his beer, and put it back down on the kitchen table without bothering to be careful. He took no notice when some of the bubbly liquid spilled out onto the counter. It was the wife's job to fix up messes like that. Faint shouting could be heard coming from the freezer room, but that died off almost as quickly as it began. The young man he took from the freezer was standing weakly in front of him. The man's hands were still forced behind his back, but he had one of his legs bent to try to cover himself from unwelcome eyes. The cuts and bruises inflicted from the night before were looking better than Benjamin would have thought. The only bruise that still looked painful was the large one around his eye. His hair was a tangled mess and he was exhausted, but he looked like he would be able to run out of there if he really wanted to.<p>

"So you got that red mark on your chest from the car accident, did ya?" Benjamin asked.

"You were there," Reid replied coldly.

"So that's yes?"

"Yeah," Reid said.

"That's what I thought, but I'm not goin go around doubting the ability of my son. Joseph was gettin you pretty good last night."

"You need to let the teacher go. You can keep me and Hotch, but she needs to go to the hospital," Reid said.

"Boy, you ain't in any position to be bossin me around!"

Benjamin smiled at his wife, and walked closer to the agent. He looked at his pale feet, up his bony legs, and across his creamy looking chest. This was going to be more fun than he originally anticipated.

"I'm not bossing you around. I was just stating that it would be so much easier on your wife if there were only two of us to take care of like you are used to."

"She ain't goin stay around much longer. Trust me on that," Benjamin said circling around the agent. Although Reid never brought it up, the kid looked scared to death. Benjamin could almost hear his heart beating through his chest.

"You don't need to kill her," Reid said quietly.

"So why is a boy like you in the FBI?" Benjamin asked. He didn't want to talk about the no-good teacher anymore. He liked it better when men were teachers. That's the way it should be. He was taught by men, and he turned out perfectly.

"I joined a few years ago. I wanted to help people," Reid answered.

"To help people like the teacher or to help people like me?" Benjamin asked with a smug look on his face. Laura laughed at that question, and made her way into the kitchen. The refrigerator door opened with a loud creak, but Benjamin didn't mind. He would get around to fixing it one of these days.

"I can't help people like you," Reid replied. "You have already made up your minds, and seeing how this can be considered a flaw in your personalities, it is almost impossible to find a cure. Treatment can only go so far with personality disorders."

Laura slammed the door to the fridge shut, and trotted back around the kitchen. Once she was a few feet away from the skinny agent, she threw her ice water at his face. The ice cubes hit, and Reid closed his eyes to prevent any serious injury, but the damage was already done. Agent Reid was standing butt naked in a chilly room with freezing water running down his face and neck. He would be shivering soon.

"There ain't nothin wrong with us!" she screamed at him.

"I'm sorry," Reid said meekly.

"Yeah, you're sorry now after you bad mouthed my family!" Laura shouted. She kicked him as hard as she could between his legs. No one saw that one coming, and Benjamin actually winced when Reid cried out in pain. His legs buckled, and the thin agent ended up sprawled on the floor. He couldn't use his hands to try and alleviate the pain since they were behind his back, but he pathetically tried to use his legs for the same purpose. His knees went up to chest, and he coughed phlegm on the floor while the blistering pain went from his groin to his throat.

"Don't you talk crap about my family again, you hear?" Laura threatened.

"I'm sorry!" Reid cried out. He had his back towards Benjamin, and Benjamin watched in mild curiosity as Reid's ribcage rose and fell with each breath he took.

"Sorry to interrupt you honey," Laura said kissing Benjamin on the cheek. "It won't happen again. I'm goin go watch some TV. Call me if you need anything."

"Will do sugar plum," Benjamin said kissing her back. She smiled at him, and left for the TV room. Benjamin heard her change the channels around, and he got down on his knees when he heard her settle on Oprah.

The younger man was already shivering as he lay on the floor. Benjamin knew that it was cold in that house. He never left his bedroom without his jacket on, and the agent didn't even have socks to cover his feet. Benjamin thought it would be more interesting the agent was tied naked to some tree outside, but he didn't want to lose the young agent just yet. Reid would be dead within the hour with the cold water freezing over his body while the clouds continued to threaten a heavy snowfall.

Benjamin kicked Reid in the back twice. Reid's body jerked from the force of the kicks, but he didn't say anything. He didn't even turn around. Benjamin stood up, and kicked him again on the butt.

"You prayin down there?" Benjamin joked. "Come on! Stand up like a man!"

Benjamin kicked him again for good measure, and Reid slowly turned around and found a way to get on his knees. Reid looked up at Benjamin, ask if hoping he would tell Reid to just rest, but Benjamin said nothing. After a few failed attempts, Reid somehow found his way back on his feet. He still kept one of his legs bent to try and keep his privacy. Benjamin kicked Reid in the stomach once he was sure Reid had his balance. The younger man doubled over in pain, but he didn't fall. He stepped forward, and was surprised when Reid didn't flinch. He didn't take a step back or even look away. Reid looked him right in the eye. Benjamin punched him in the cheek, and Reid's head swung away from him, but only for a moment. Reid took a deep breath, and looked back at Benjamin. He was scared. Benjamin knew it.

"Doesn't look like you got much training in combat," Benjamin said. "You're just a bag of bones. The women I killed looked like they were in better shape than you!"

"This is a nice house you have," Reid said after a pause.

Benjamin took his empty beer car off the counter, and threw it at the agent. The can hit the agent in the cheek, but he didn't fall. His large eyes looked watery, but he didn't cry either. He was tougher than Benjamin thought.

"Can I please use your bathroom?" Reid asked.

"Do you think I'd let you wander around MY house you fool?" Benjamin asked.

"It's better than making a mess on your floor," Reid replied.

Benjamin looked at his wife, still watching TV in the other room, and then back at Reid. His wife would kill both of them if they got the floor dirty. Sighing, he grabbed Reid by the handcuffs and pulled him into the bathroom. He shut the door behind them. The bathroom was small, but it did well for its purpose. The shower needed some serious scrubbing, brown decay was scattered around the walls and rim, but it didn't bother anyone in the family. The medicine cabinet was mostly empty, and the towels that hung over the toilet had more than a few holes, but no one complained. Reid looked down at the toilet, and then over at Benjamin.

"Can you please take the handcuffs off? I can't do this with my hands behind my back," Reid said cautiously.

Benjamin got back on his knees, and took a firm hold on Reid's member. Reid's breath was caught in the back of his throat from this rude invasion, but Benjamin wasn't going to let go. Just feeling Reid's member was exciting him more than his wife ever did.

"Pee!" Benjamin demanded.

"I can't," Reid said trying to move away from the unwelcome grasp, but Benjamin just tightened his squeeze. He didn't even try to not hurt the kid. His dirty nails were digging into the tender skin of Reid's member.

"Do it!" Benjamin shouted.

Reid was finally crying. It made Benjamin smile. He squeezed onto the agent once more, and the boy finally tinkled into the toilet bowl. It was steady, but it wasn't as much as Benjamin thought it would be. As soon as he was confident the kid was finished, he pushed Reid into the shower. Reid fell roughly on the shower bed, and landed with a loud thump on his behind. Benjamin turned on the shower, and flushed the toilet while he struggled to get his own clothes off. He couldn't afford to get them wet in the winter season. Their dryer was broken so drying clothes was hell.

Reid spit up the warm water in his mouth, and he tried to move so it wouldn't get in his eyes. His pretty hair hung down on his face, and the red bruises on his back almost seemed to rise up from the hot liquid massaging his skin. Benjamin made sure the water wasn't hot enough to burn him before he joined Reid in the shower. He pulled the kid by his hair so he was on his feet. He forced Reid's front side into the shower wall, and went to once racing his hands through the skinny body before him. He felt the slender neck, the ribcage safely behind the skin, and swirled his fingers around Reid's pink nipples. Reid was still coughing up water, but he knew what was going on, and he fought. He tried moving his head in every way he could, and he tried to push Benjamin off of him using his hips, but that only excited Benjamin more.

"Let me go!" Reid screamed out.

Benjamin found Reid's member once again, and started stroking it while pushing his own manlihood against Reid's back. Reid cried out, but he wasn't pushing as hard as he once was to free himself. Reid was becoming hard in Benjamin's hands, and Benjamin used his free hand to find the small entrance in Reid's body. He stuck one of his fingers in to test the tightness, and Reid gasped at the invasion.

"Please stop," Reid cried. "Please…"

Benjamin stroked Reid's member faster and faster until he thought the young man would burst. He stopped for a second to position himself, and without warning or any kind of lubricant, he pushed himself into Reid. The tightness filled his sex with warmth, and Benjamin could barely control how excited he got. He pulled himself out to the tip, and back in again as far as he could get. Reid screamed. He screamed and he fought and he screamed, but none of that was bothering Benjamin. He hadn't felt this kind of pleasure in years, and he wasn't about to stop. He pulled back out to the tip, and rammed himself back in again. He felt that he was getting deeper and deeper with every thrust, and his whole body was in a sense of ecstasy. He took hold of Reid's member again, and went to work on it while Reid weakly objected.

Dark blood ran down Reid's thighs with every violent push, and Benjamin sensed that Reid was finding it difficult to remain standing. He moved his own body closer to Reid's to help support the kid, but continued pushing as hard as he could. Reid's release came before his own. Reid gasped loudly when he came, and Benjamin felt his hand get wet and sticky with the warm fluid from Reid's body. He wiped his sticky hand against Reid's thigh, and then placed it across from his other hand on Reid's hips. He held the kid steady as his pushes got faster and faster. Benjamin moaned in delight, and moved his hands around Reid's chest and stomach. The boy was just so tight. He couldn't figure out why he rarely went after men. They were much more pleasurable than any woman he ever had. When he felt his release was near, he pushed harder and harder into the body underneath him, and he came with a loud moan from his lips.

He took a second to catch his breath, and then removed himself from Reid. He rinsed himself off with the shower head, and then pushed Reid on the shower floor. He got out and dried himself without checking the younger man. He put his tee shirt back on, followed by his boxers and pants. His belt and jacket went on last. He was putting on his socks when he finally opened the shower curtain to check on Reid. Scarlet blood was going down the drain like a river, and Reid was still on his stomach where Benjamin left him. He didn't even look up when he heard the shower curtain move. Benjamin finished putting his socks on, and then removed his belt. He practiced a slap against the sink, and then whipped the belt on Reid's already bruised back. Reid weakly screamed, and finally turned to face him.

"Back on your feet boy! The kids will be home soon, and I haven't even had lunch yet."

Benjamin turned off the water, and put his belt back on while Reid struggled to stand up in the shower. He fell at least three times, but he finally got his footing and stood meekly in front of Benjamin. He waited to see if Benjamin would help him out of the tub, but Benjamin went to checking his teeth in the mirror. Reid fell on his knees getting out, and Benjamin was disgusted to see the red blood staining the bathroom floor. He pulled Reid to his feet using the kid's hair, and dragged him back into the freezer room without bothering to wipe any of the water or blood off of the beaten up body. He opened the freezer door without any kind of announcement, tied Reid back to his spot on the wall, and locked the door behind him when he left. He was craving macaroni and cheese that afternoon for his lunch. He loved cheese.

* * *

><p>Hotch didn't know what to say when Benjamin dragged Reid back into their makeshift prison room. The kid didn't say a word as the old redneck tied his handcuffs back onto the wall, and left the room without saying anything. Kate was anxiously looking over Reid as well, but she wasn't in much better shape than he was. Hotch had been questioning her again and again since Reid left. He wanted to gather as much information as he could about the family before he had to face them again, but Kate didn't really she know that much. The family had been living there since before she started teaching at the high school, but she didn't know how long. She was never Joseph's teacher, but she gave him detention on more than one occasion. Daniel was quiet, but he was one of the best students in her class. He always turned his work in on time, and he grasped information better than other students. She actually set up a parent-teacher conference to discuss moving Daniel up another grade, but his parents never showed up. Daniel was hurt when his parents were no-shows, but he didn't want to talk about it. Kate didn't want to pressure the already troubled teen.<p>

Hotch wanted to learn more. He wanted to interview this woman, and find out everything he could about this bizarre family, and why they were the way they were, but he couldn't ask anymore of Kate. The black mark underneath her ribcage wasn't healing properly, and the poor girl was being forced to sit in her own urine. Hotch never thought he would be considering himself lucky for wearing nothing more than boxer shorts, but he was. He was relatively safe from the filth on the floor around them. She wasn't, and neither was Reid.

Reid had his legs up by his chest, but he barely looked awake. What had they done to him? Hotch struggled to get a better look at his agent, but his chains weren't showing any mercy. Reid's shoulders and chest still looked bruised from the night before, but Hotch couldn't get a good look at his back. What he could see clearly was that the young man was soaking wet. His hair fell in clumps around his face, and beaded water droplets clung to his neck and cheeks. He was shivering from the cold, and Hotch felt his heart drop.

"Reid? Are you okay?" Hotch asked.

He didn't think the kid was going to answer, and he couldn't blame him if Reid stayed quiet. Hotch probably wouldn't want to talk either, but Reid slowly lifted his head. His black eye still gave Hotch chills. Reid shouldn't be looking like this. He was the baby of our team. He was supposed to be protected, but Hotch let him down. Hotch was the reason that this was happening. He should have sent Reid back home the second he found out the unsubs were watching him, but he didn't. He was a fool, but Reid was the one who had to pay.

"I'm fine," Reid said in a light voice. "Just cold."

"How did you get wet?" Hotch asked tentatively.

"Benjamin put me in the shower," Reid answered after a long pause.

Hotch had a million more questions to ask that were just burning on his tongue. Why did he put you in the shower? Did you bathe yourself? Did he feed you? What else did he say? Did you get a good look around? Hotch didn't even know which question to ask first, but that's when he saw the dark blood on Reid's thighs. It was hard to see it at first, but the liquid was definitely coming out of the boy and leaving its mark on the floor. Hotch couldn't ask Reid anymore questions. He didn't need Reid to tell him what happened. Blood doesn't lie. Kate had noticed it too. She probably saw it before Hotch did just because she was right next to the young genius, but she didn't mention it.

Hotch was prepared to sleep with that woman if it came to that. He had to do anything he could to get Reid out of there. Hell, he would sleep with the entire family if it meant that Reid and Kate would be able to leave. Both of them needed serious medical condition, and a little bird was telling Hotch that they would not get it there. The team was going to find them. He had confidence in that, but when would they be found? They wouldn't last a week. They probably wouldn't last a few days. They were already going out of their script by keeping Hotch and the others alive. How long would they be that lucky?

"Kate, when the boys get back from school, can you get Daniel talking?" Hotch asked.

"I can try, but it doesn't always work. He only talks to me when he wants to. I don't really have a say in it," Kate said.

"He's our only ticket out of here unless the team comes," Hotch said. "He likes you. I don't think he wants something serious to happen to you. If you can get him talking and get him to open up more, he could help us get out. I'd be happy if just one of us got out."

"How do you know he'll come back in here? His parents and brother seem to be more interested in us than him. He's just a high school kid who needs more direction in his life. He's clearly not getting it at home."

"He'll come back. I'm getting the feeling you are the only one he will talk to," Hotch said. He was deep in his thoughts, and reviewing everything that happened since the moment he woke up after the accident. Everyone in the family ignored Daniel. He was only mentioned if he did something out of the ordinary or if he was needed to help carry something. The kid's family didn't know him at all, but Kate did.

"I'm not going to quit teaching when we get out," Kate said. "The cops will arrest these parents, and get the boys the help they need. It's not fair to other students just to give up when something bad happens. I'm going to move back home once the school year is over, but I need to stay with my students until the year is up. I won't abandon them."

Were all teachers like this? Hotch wasn't particularly fond of any of his teachers from high school, but he didn't think any of his teachers were as dedicated as Kate was. She really loved to teach, but Hotch couldn't concentrate on her. If she was going to teach ever again, she had to get out of there.

"Just remember," Hotch said looking at her in the eye. "Just play along with him. He is very delusional. Pretend that nothing is wrong because nothing is wrong to him. Offer to help him with his homework. Don't bring up anything that has happened here."

"I took psychology classes when I was in college," Kate said with a weak smile. "I didn't think I'd ever have to actually use it."

"It's always good to know psychology," Hotch said as he looked over Reid. The kid looked like he was either sleeping or unconscious. Hotch had no idea how much blood that Reid lost, but he wasn't going to try to wake the boy up.

Hotch wanted to go over more strategies with Kate when the door opened. Both of them stopped talking immediately as if they were about to be interrogated, and they didn't want to be caught saying something they didn't mean to say. Hotch looked up to see who it was, and his heart skipped a beat. It was Laura, and the chubby woman was smiling ear to ear when she saw Hotch was looking at her.

"How's my mister movie star?" she asked bending down to look at Hotch.

"Just fine and dandy," Hotch said forcing a smile.

"Terrific!" Laura exclaimed. "I was just thinking, Benjamin had so much fun with Agent Reid in the shower, but you've had to sit here on your rump all day. Just heated up some more of them hotdogs. Not sure how many you can eat, but I plan on fillin you up!"

Hotch's stomach rolled in his stomach at the thought of more of those hotdogs. He wasn't hungry at all. It was Kate and Reid who should be eating. They were neglected at breakfast time. The only reason why this woman was feeding him was because she thought he looked like some famous celebrity. The comment would be flattering if it came from anyone else besides her.

"I'm sure my little hot bun is starving, isn't he?" she asked smiling. Hotch got a great close-up of her rotting teeth, but Hotch would rather stick his hand in a tub of acid rather than look at her teeth any longer. As much as she made him want to puke, he couldn't look away. He couldn't expect Reid and Kate to do all of the work. If he could find a way out of this, he had to take it.

"I love hotdogs," Hotch said as he forced back a cough.

"I knew that my handsome man liked his meat," Laura said with a sickening laugh.

She released Hotch from his wall restraints, and she helped him into the kitchen. Hotch tried to walk on his injured leg, but it was to no avail. It sent sharp pains up his leg whenever he put the smallest amount of pressure on it. Hotch didn't want to admit to anyone, but he needed to see a doctor too. Laura shut the freezer door behind him, and she did help support his weight while they walked. Hotch wanted to say something, anything at all, but he couldn't bring himself to. The woman disgusted him, and Hotch was more interested in finding out more about their surroundings. Laura pushed him down on the same chair in front of table, and went to work securing his legs to the wooden chair.

"Just got to heat these old dogs up," Laura said.

Hotch watched her walk over to the microwave, but he wasn't going to think about the food she was warming up. That would make him puke. He looked around the house, or as much as his neck would allow, and he tried putting it to memory. The family room was behind him. An old television was against a wall that didn't allow Hotch to get a good look at it. If his chair was turned around, he would be looking at the mustard-yellow couch that was facing the television. He knew there was a front door around that area. That is what Kate ran for when she tried to escape. There was also a door near the kitchen, but the doors wouldn't mean anything if none of them could run. Reid wasn't in the best shape, the black bruise under Kate's ribcage wasn't getting any better, and Hotch was certain that his leg was broken.

Laura brought back a plastic plate with five steaming hotdogs on it. She grabbed the ketchup bottle from the center of the table, and started squeezing it onto the hotdogs like there was no tomorrow. Hotch threw up a little in his mouth, but said nothing. He had to get this woman to like him. He wouldn't be able to do that by complaining about her food, but was all the food in this house hotdogs and cornflakes?

"You didn't need to waste so much ketchup on me," Hotch said hating the uncertainty in his voice.

"But ketchup has all them vitamins and minerals in it! Its what made Benny boy get all is big and strong!" Laura said.

"So did the cornflakes," Hotch said weakly. He kept looking at the hotdogs. She was mashing them up with her hands to make them softer, but in reality, it was making the food look more like some bloody mess he found in the men's bathroom once.

"Stop arguing and open up!" she commanded.

Hotch closed his eyes, and opened up his mouth a crack. He wasn't going to be able to watch this. Her hand forced his jaw open wider, and she shoved the expired meat dripping with sauce into his mouth. He managed to get the questionable food down his throat without tasting it, but he wasn't able to prepare himself for the next bite before she pushed that one in. The fork she was using scraped the top of his mouth, and he could taste his own blood mixing with the soggy meat. His stomach started gagging, and the undigested food came back up his throat and onto the table. Laura didn't seem to care or notice. She went right ahead with forking more of the hotdogs down his mouth.

"You's the first celebrity we've ever had in here, ya know? I mean, most the time, Benny brings home skinny bitchy blondes, but not this time. And ya know why? Cuz I told him! I told him that he needed to get them FBI agents, and I picked out which ones and guess out. Now you's here!"

Hotch shook his head in agreement. Ketchup was dripping down his chin, and he couldn't swallow anymore of the meat so it was gathering up in his mouth. Laura didn't notice. She forked up another mouthful, and pushed it right in.

"The kid in there's not your son, right?" Laura asked. She paused with the feeding, and Hotch took a moment to swallow most of what was in his mouth. His stomach grumbled, and Hotch was positive he would be seeing those hotdogs again soon.

"Reid isn't my son," Hotch said. "He's just a boy. What more could you want with him when you have me?"

Hotch didn't hear Benjamin come up behind him. He didn't know he was there until the older man grabbed Hotch by the hair on his head. He twisted his neck backwards until Hotch was facing him. The ripping at his scalp took his breath away.

"Ain't no more talking about letting anyone go. Got it FBI?" Benjamin growled.

"You are the boss in here, not me," Hotch said looking him in the eye.

"You bet your rat's ass I am!" Benjamin said laughing. He released Hotch's hair, and a strong headache came on as soon as Hotch was settled back in his seat.

"Don't go scarin Pierce hon. I'm sure if we drove up to Hollywood sometime, all them girls would be wanting your autograph!" Laura said.

"I don't think so," Hotch said as he tried fighting off the sick feeling he was getting in the center of his stomach. He didn't want to throw up again.

"I'll be scaring him all I want. I'm the boss in here, remember? I think it's about to take Hollywood to the barn," Benjamin said. He got another beer out of the fridge, and popped it open. How many of those did that man drink in a day and how was he affording that?

"The boys will be home soon though," Laura said.

"Yeah, and they can play with the woman and the kid. I need to teach this Hollywood guy how to behave around me," Benjamin said. "He ain't goin be givin me or my woman orders anymore."

"But I was feedin him!"

"He's done eating," Benjamin said. He untied Hotch's feet from the chair, and lifted him up with his handcuffs. Hotch fell at first, but he didn't fall all the way to the ground. Benjamin supported his weight, and escorted Hotch out the back door. Hotch felt fresh air for the first time in almost two days, and while it was a glorious feeling, his heart was pounding at the thought of what was being kept in this man's barn.

* * *

><p>Daniel's headache was bugging him as he walked home from school. It seemed to always get worse near the end of the day, but he would just pop a few pills in his throat when he got home. He wasn't going to let his headache bother him today. He wanted to tell Miss Parker about the terrible substitute they had in her place. After the agents talked to them, class went on like normal. They turned their papers in, and then they took notes about what the soldiers in Germany were doing during the Second World War. It was interesting, but it was going to be more interesting to talk to the young agent. Daniel had to admit that he was surprised when Reid started talking to him. He just figured that all agents were like Mulder and Scully from <em>The X-Files<em>. Scully was a brainiac who specialized in medicine, and Mulder was convinced that he would find the aliens who abducted his younger sister over a decade ago. Reid wasn't really like either one of those characters. Reid was more like Daniel, and Daniel liked that.

Joseph went straight for the fridge after their long walk home, but Daniel wasn't hungry. He didn't eat much at lunch time, but he was rarely hungry around noon. His mother was on the sofa watching the news, and Daniel was sure that he spotted his dad out back by the barn. He would have the people in the freezer for himself for the time being. He opened up the freezer door quietly, as to not attract the unwanted attention from his family, and he slipped himself inside. The older agent was gone. That explained what his father was doing out in the cold barn on a day like this. He was happy to see that Reid and Miss Parker were both still alive, but they weren't fairing too well. The bruise underneath his teacher's stomach was starting to swell. The color wasn't changing, but it looked painful. Daniel decided not to mention it to her. The skin on her eyelids almost looked yellow, but Daniel blamed this on the bad lighting in the room. Agent Reid was terribly pale which made the scratches and bruises stand out on his skin like a white elephant at the zoo. As Daniel got closer to the agent, he noticed the blood stains where Reid was sitting. Reid was still keeping his body in a tight ball, but Daniel knew what happened. He knew his father too well.

"I turned the paper in Miss Parker," Daniel said sitting down across from her. "Do you really think I'll get an A? The substitute wasn't that nice."

"I'm sure you will," she said quietly. "I looked over it last night, remember?"

"Of course I remember!" Daniel snapped. He hated being treated like an idiot. He knew he was the smartest kid in the class.

"How was school?" Reid asked.

Daniel looked over at Reid. He was looking at Daniel, and while he looked ready to pass out at any moment, he looked interested in what Daniel had to say. Daniel scooted closer to the agent, and put his hand on one of Reid's knees. The agent looked uncomfortable for sure, but he didn't try to back away. Daniel took his hand back, and dug in his pockets for his trusty pin. He found it at school a few years back, and he kept it with him ever since. It was almost like a security blanket to him.

"The jerks in my study hall were picking on me again," Daniel said. He took the pin out of his pocket, and scooted back so he was sitting next to Reid. He found the agent's hands still handcuffed together, and he slid his pin across Reid's slender fingers.

"What do they pick on you about?" Reid asked. The pin was making him nervous. Daniel could tell.

"All kinds of things," Daniel said as he twirled the pin around the skinny fingers. "I'm not big like they are. I don't like sports like they do, and I don't go around talking about all the girls I banged last weekend. That's their favorite topic I think."

"You don't have to be like them," Reid said softly. "Why would you want to be friends with people like that?"

"How did it feel when my father raped you?" Daniel asked.

"Daniel, don't," Miss Parker whined.

"Shut up!" Daniel screamed. "Answer me!"

Reid was taking too long with the answer, and Daniel didn't have time to wait. His headache felt like it was going to tear his brains apart. He stabbed Reid with his pin in the index finger. He felt the tiny piece of hell going through the flesh and muscle of the finger, and Reid screamed in pain. Daniel didn't stop pushing it until it was halfway down the agent's digit. Tears were falling down Reid's face, and he was breathing through his mouth instead of his nose.

"How did it feel when Pa raped you?" Daniel asked again.

"Daniel, please stop!" Miss Parker cried out.

Daniel stood up, and kicked her directly in the swelling bruise by her ribcage. She screamed. He got back on his knees, and wiped the tears rolling down Reid's cheeks.

"How did it feel?" he asked.

"It felt like I was getting sawed in half in your shower," Reid spat out.

Daniel tore the pin back out of the bleeding finger, and Reid screamed again. It was weird to see how such a small amount of damage could cause this much pain. He wiped the blood off the pin with his shirt, and stuck it back in his pocket. He didn't want to ever lose it. He stretched his arms over his head, and looked back at his teacher and his new friend. Neither one of them looked that happy, but Daniel's headache was finally gone.

"Did you guys have lunch yet?" Daniel asked with a small smile on his face.

_i love daniel and how special he is. he just scares me out of my mind so go him. and benjamin's liking of cheese. ew. lol. i dont think ill want mac and cheese anytime soon. but plz plz plz review! makes me happy and then u guys get to see whats happening 2 hotch n the barn with old benny boy. ya, he scares me but not as much as daniel does. until next time! xoxoxo_


	14. Chapter 14

_got this chapter up faster than i thought. i got my new computer a little while ago and just found out that it has some form of WORD on here so i could write. i wrote about a page of the manor and then went back to the south cuz i love my story lol. i got a bit distracted reading a stephen king book 4 a while. i got really into it, stephen killed my imaginary boyfriend, and so i kinda HAD 2 finish it. its over now, and so i can go back 2 my stories. warnings: lanuage as always, bad violence, confusing daniel, and non con_

Reid knew he had been talking to Daniel, but he was barely comprehending himself what words were being said. His rear end was burning, and all he wanted to do was crawl into a ball and wish himself to sleep, but he couldn't do that. He just said whatever he could to keep Daniel in a good mood, and that was working until Daniel brought up the rape. Reid couldn't believe his ears, but the boy in front of him was really asking about how it felt when his dad raped him. Reid wished someone else was there to answer for him, but Kate was the only other person in the room, and she looked just as shocked as Reid did. Reid should have seen the pin coming. He knew the pin was there, but he still felt betrayed when it pierced through his skin. Daniel left soon after that with talk of lunch, but he had been gone for a while now. Time seemed to stop when they were behind the freezer door.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked slowly.

"Yeah," Reid answered. He was more awake now, but he wished more than anything that he could see what happened to his finger. It was throbbing with pain.

Kate coughed, and Reid turned to look at her. The black bruise where Daniel kicked her was starting to bleed, and the light skin on her face looked more yellow than peachy like it once did. Something was wrong, but Reid couldn't put his finger on it.

"Are you alright?" Reid asked her.

"Just really sleepy," she said. "I don't know why. I think I slept better than both of you did last night. I think if I ate anything, I'd be puking. I'm just so tired."

She rested her head against the wall behind her, and Reid spotted that her thin frame looked bloated. Thousands of thoughts and explanations rushed through Reid's head, but Reid couldn't pinpoint any of them. She was sick, and Reid was afraid that he was going to lose his new friend if something wasn't done immediately. Did she get pneumonia?

"Just rest for a little bit," Reid said. He didn't know what else to say or do. He couldn't do much in his situation, and he couldn't tell her exactly how to get over whatever was hurting her.

"It will be hard when Daniel comes back in," she said. "Sorry Daniel, I can't talk to you. I need to take a nap so come back later." She laughed a little bit, but Reid didn't join her. Where was the rest of the team? Why weren't they there by now?

"He likes you," Kate said when she finished her short lived laugh. "I don't think I've ever seen him talk to anyone else before."

"We need him to like us," Reid said scanning over their prison. He was hoping there was something in there that he hadn't noticed before, but there was nothing. Daniel even took that stupid pin with him. They really were trapped in there.

"How many other people are on your team?" Kate asked.

"There's seven of us total," Reid said. "They should be finding us soon. We had the profile down. We knew that there were two unsubs, and that one of them was going to that was high school. I think we were concentrating on Benjamin and Joseph. We never thought to suspect the mother too, but it makes sense."

"So they are going to find us soon?" Kate asked.

"Yes, they'll find us," Reid said, but he didn't believe it himself. It was a small town, but almost every single male in the town could fit the unsub's description.

"I said before that I was going to finish up the school year," Kate said. "I don't want to anymore. I want to get as far away from this town as possible."

Reid looked back at her, and saw the woman was trembling. Reid wanted to hug her, and assure her that everything was going to be alright, but he wanted someone to say that to him too. Was everything going to be just fine in the end?

"I'm scared," she said looking at him. "I'm really scared."

"We're going to get through this," Reid told her. He wanted to tell her that he was probably just as scared as he was, but that wasn't going to help the situation. "The fact that they have kept us alive this long is a good thing. "They've broken the pattern, and I think that if we keep Daniel talking, he'll eventually want to help us."

Kate coughed again, but she smiled at him. Reid weakly smiled back. He wanted Hotch with them though. Reid couldn't remember how long Hotch had been gone, but it seemed like an hour or more. If Reid was right about Daniel being their key out of there, Hotch needed to talk to the boy too. Daniel never said one word to Hotch, and that scared Reid.

* * *

><p>Prentiss sat outside the school with J.J. They watched all the kids hurry to their parents in parked cars or start the walk back to their homes, but none of them stood out to Prentiss. They all just looked like normal teens who were anxious to get as far away as school as possible. As much as Morgan hated to admit it, he didn't find anything special inside the school. Rossi finally got all the students that were caught texting the day the two bodies showed up, and Garcia was running it through her system, but Prentiss wasn't confident they'd find the unsub that way. They were missing something. She just couldn't put her finger on what.<p>

"They're still alive," J.J. said as the last of the students left the parking lot.

"I know," Prentiss agreed. They hadn't found any bodies, but that didn't comfort Prentiss in the least. When the bodies were found, their faces would be peeled away from the bone. A cold chill ran down her spine. She couldn't even imagine that for Hotch and Reid. She couldn't.

"I'm not against holding a town meeting tonight. Make everyone in the town come, and watch out for the behavior. The unsub will be there, and I bet you he will be watching us," J.J. said.

"Yeah, we can tell Morgan," Prentiss said. "I just don't know if the unsub will keep them alive that long. I mean, he did take three people. I wish I did more when the unsubs were right next to me. I should have woken up, and grabbed my gun. I didn't, and that's part of the reason why Reid and Hotch aren't with us now."

"You were in the hospital because the night of the abductions, you were in a car accident. You couldn't have done anything," J.J. argued.

Prentiss knew that she was right, but she still couldn't shake the feeling from her mind that all of this was her fault. If she had woken up, Reid and Hotch would be there. They wouldn't be in danger, and they would probably find the unsubs faster. They needed Reid's brilliant mind right about now. He would be able to see what the others were missing, and because Prentiss didn't force herself to wake up that night, he was missing and might be killed.

"I just wondered what changed their pattern," J.J. thought out loud. "This is the first time that they haven't killed their victims the first night. Maybe it's because of who they are?"

"It has to be more than that. The teacher isn't dead yet either, and she doesn't work for the FBI."

"Unless she is dead, and we haven't found the body," J.J. said slowly.

"If they killed her, they'd probably be putting her body right in front of the school because she worked her and it would scare the people living her even more. It would traumatized the students, and let the unsubs feel that they are in control because we didn't save her," Prentiss said. She really didn't feel that Kate Parker was dead. She didn't get these kinds of feelings often, but when she did, she trusted them. The teacher was still alive.

Morgan and Rossi were cutting across the parking lot to their parked SUV, and both women stopped thinking about corpses while the guys approached. As much as Prentiss didn't trust the idea, the town meeting seemed like the best plan for now. Morgan looked like he was stressed more than the rest of them. Sweat was rolling down his face which seemed almost impossible on this chilly grey day.

"I don't think I've ever seen more disrespectful students in my life," Rossi said.

"I think it's this town," Prentiss commented looking around. "I don't think they really want us here. The parents I've talked to are just as disrespectful as the students."

"But we're here to help them!" J.J. said.

"Some people just don't want our help," Morgan said glumly. "But we're not leaving. We are going to find Hotch and Reid, and arrest the bastards that took them."

"We still like the idea of holding a town meeting tonight," J.J. said. "Make it mandatory that every adult in the town come. We still think that it's an adult male working with a younger person, and that adult male will be watching us intently the entire meeting. I'm sure that we will be able to find him that way."

"Yeah, okay," Morgan said. He was heartbroken over what happened with Hotch and Reid. They all were, and Prentiss was sure that he was blaming himself somehow even though it was her fault. Morgan wasn't there that night. She was. A buzzing phone call woke all of them up from their depression. Rossi fished the phone out of his pocket, and put it to his ear.

"Rossi," he said automatically. "Oh, hi Garcia," he said putting the phone on speaker. "You're on speaker. Tell us what you found."

"To all searchers of truth," Garcia began. "I couldn't find one student who texted that was living at home with an unemployed father so I searched further. I know that you guys didn't mention a mother, but four students are currently living at home with an unemployed mother, and so I searched further. One of the women is disabled, but the rest look like they were laid off from previous jobs from drinking or poor behavior."

"It could be a woman," Rossi said. "We never thought of that."

"We assumed it was two men because of the sexual assault, but it could be a woman and her son," J.J. said. "The woman could lure the victims. They feel safer because it is a woman, and then her son attacks. Just because he is in high school doesn't mean he's small."

"I know that most of the boys in high school were bigger than the teaches," Prentiss added. "They grow like weeds."

"Send us the names pretty woman," Morgan said sweetly into the phone.

"Already sent oh majestic one," Garcia said.

"The mother could be luring the women because her son can't find a girlfriend on his own," J.J. said. "She brings them home, he does what he wants with them, and then kills them."

"I don't think that a woman and her son could have caused that car wreck, and then took Reid and Hotch. I just can't see it," Morgan said.

"But it can happen," Rossi argued. "Women can be every bit as dangerous as men are. They usually aren't as physical, but they can abduct and murder just like men do."

"Okay, there's four names so we will go in pairs to talk to them," Morgan said. "I'll go with Prentiss, and Rossi can go with J.J."

"And Garcia, can you call the sheriff about ordering a town meeting tonight?" J.J. asked.

"Of course my beautiful friend. What time?"

"Does 8pm sound alright to everyone?"

They nodded in agreement, but Morgan was already scanning over the four names sent to him.

"Make it 8pm," J.J. told the phone.

"Got it. The queen of all technology is over and out."

Rossi slipped the phone back into his pocket, and they stood in silence for a moment. All of them had a millions thoughts racing through their heads. It was hard to concentrate on just one, but Prentiss was confident that they would find something from one of the names Garcia sent them.

* * *

><p>Hotch could barely stay on his feet. His leg was killing him. There was no question at all anymore that the leg was broken. Benjamin had to support most of his body weight just to get Hotch outside. It was freezing, but the southern man took no notice. Hotch's feet were burning from the cold, and all of the sticks and stones from the ground were cutting his toes. He could see his frozen breath in the winter air, and Hotch wanted back inside. He was going to freeze to death before Benjamin could do what he wanted.<p>

"Come on Hollywood," Benjamin mumbled.

"I'm not from there," Hotch managed to say. His teeth were jittering in his mouth. He was trying so hard not to let Benjamin know that he was already suffering, but it was so cold.

"You Hollywood people are all the same," Benjamin replied.

Hotch had to use all of this to his advantage somehow. He was leaning against the foul smelling man, but he still had a good view of where he is. He couldn't see a main road, and the sun would be down soon. There were pine trees everywhere. That's really all he could see. Trees. If Kate or Reid managed to get free, where would they run? One wrong move would take them into the cave of some wild animal. Where the hell was the road?

Straight ahead was an aging building that Hotch guessed was the barn. It used to be painted red, but the paint had chipped off long ago. It was now brown and black with decay. Animals probably never resided in it, and Hotch was nervous when he wondered what did. How in the world did a man like Benjamin afford all of this? It had to passed down in his family. His father might have owned it or something, and land was cheaper out here. Most people wanted their families raised in the city, and away from the dangers of mother nature.

Benjamin opened the barn doors, and pushed Hotch inside. Hotch fell before he even took his first step. His leg cracked, and he screamed with pain. Why did this have to hurt so bad? There was old hay on the floor, and the horse stalls were wide open but empty. It was warmer inside, but it was still too cold to keep Hotch from getting sick. He forced himself over onto his butt, and turned around to face his captor. Benjaim shut the large doors behind him, and grabbed a pitch fork from one of the front stalls. Hotch scooted over to the closest wall he could, and used it to push himself on his feet. He couldn't stand at all on his broken leg, but his other leg could support him well enough with the help from the wall. His heart was pounding in his chest, but he would be damned before he let Benjamin know.

"What do you want?" Hotch asked. "What?"

"I kinda wanna try out this pitch fork. I haven't used it in years," Benjamin said stepping forward. Hotch was sure that this man was going to murder him. He was going to stick that pitch fork in his chest and that would be it, but he wasn't going down without a fight.

"You're not worried at all about that jail sentence you're going to get," Hotch challenged. "I wouldn't be surprised at all if they went for the death penalty. How many people have you killed? Can you even remember?"

"Don't matter," Benjaim said with a grin. "I can make it three more."

Hotch pushed himself off the wall, and tried balancing on one leg. He had nothing to protect himself with, and he was still in his boxers, but he wasn't about to sit around to die. He wanted to put his arms in front of him to help fight, but he was still handcuffed. He would be lucky if he could give Benjamin so much as a scratch.

"You goin fight me?" Benjamin asked. He laughed loudly, and smacked himself in the leg. "You're just like the boy! That skinny dork was tryin to fight me too, and oh God, he was so tight!"

Hotch forgot everything. All he could see was Benjamin standing in front of him graphically telling Hotch how the rape of his youngest agent was. It was hard to comprehend that Reid had been raped by this monster, but he would deal with that later. Hotch tried charging at Benjamin, but his body reminded him that his leg was still broken and he fell after a single step. He fell on his stomach, and he cried out.

"Where did ya think you were goin?" Benjamin asked. He circled around Hotch, and Hotch knew what was coming. Benjamin put the pitch fork on one of Hotch's thighs, and pushed it down. Hotch felt his skin rip open, and blood rushed out. Hotch bit the inside of the cheek to keep screaming. Benjamin pulled the fork all the way down the leg until only one spike still fit, but he didn't lift it up until the sole of Hotch's foot was red with blood. That's when Hotch finally screamed. Benjamin laughed.

"See? You're just a man! Ain't no Superman," Benjamin said.

"At least I am a man," Hotch forced himself to reply. "That's more than you can say."

Benjamin raised the pitch fork above his head, and slammed it down on Hotch's back. Hotch arched his back and yelled out in pain. He coughed, and swore he spit up some blood, but he didn't know for sure. Benjamin looked like he was out of breath. This was some kind of workout for the fat man. Hotch coughed again, and tried pulling his hands free of the handcuffs. It didn't work of course, but it was worth a try. His hands were still tied behind his back, and Hotch lost hope that Benjamin knew where the keys were.

Hotch felt like taunting his captor more, but what good would that do? One of his legs was broken, and the other one was bleeding profusely. He would die if he kept talking, and he couldn't let that happen. Reid needed him. Kate needed him. They would die, and he wasn't going to leave them alone. If they were going to survive, they needed to stay together so Hotch kept his mouth shut. He put his cheek down on the scratchy hay, and waited to see what would happen. Benjaim could barely catch his breath. Hotch silently prayed that the overweight man would die of a massive heart attack, but that didn't happen. He bent over, and eventually caught his breath.

"Had asthma as a boy," Benjamin told him. "Never really got over it."

Hotch stayed quiet. He kept his cheek on the hay, and tried to stay submissive. If he cooperated, he might be able to keep his life. Benjamin coughed into his sleeve, and stood up straight up again. He put the pitch fork back in the first stall, and glanced out a hole on the side of the barn. The sun was going down.

"My little brother died of an asthma attack," Benjamin said. "He was just this little kid. We were playing outside in the woods. Pa wanted us to just grow out of it so he never got us inhalers or nothin. The sun went down, and Stu just started coughing and coughing. I tried to get him back home, but I didn't make it. The kid died in my arms. I can't remember how old he was anymore."

"Asthma doesn't care who it takes," Hotch finally said.

"No, it don't," Benjamin said. It looked like he was lost in his own thoughts, but he saw Hotch still lying there. "Should get you back."

He pulled Hotch to his feet, and Hotch whimpered. His foot was really cut up, and he couldn't use his leg at all. His body leaned against Benjamin's, and Hotch hated it. The bones in his leg were trying to knit themselves together, but it wouldn't work if they weren't set properly. Benjamin didn't say anything though. He kept one of his hands on Hotch's cuffs, and in that process, he supported Hotch's weight.

They went back out into the winter cold, but Benjamin had changed, at least for the time being. What happened back there? He was acting like a sadistic killer, and then he remembered his dying brother. Hotch had to tell Reid. The boy genius would have some ideas. Maybe this could help them get out. Benjamin did a vulnerable spot. Hotch just to get through Laura. He just didn't think he could eat anymore hotdogs.

* * *

><p>Hotdogs were still cooking when Hotch got back in the house with Benjamin. Hotch looked almost frozen, but Joseph didn't care. No one would miss him when he died except maybe the hotdogs. Joseph finished his water, and got off the couch. Nothing good on was TV yet which meant it was a perfect time to have a little fun with Kate or Reid. He didn't care which. Hotch was put at the kitchen table, and it looked like Ma was going to feed him some more. That man was going to obese by the time they killed him. It would be good eating for the wild animals for sure. It was probably harder to hunt in the winter time, but Joseph really didn't know.<p>

Joseph wiped his mouth on his jacket, and went to the freezer. Reid and Kate were sitting side by side like how Joseph last saw them, but they weren't so looking so hot. Both of them looked ill which was a small turnoff, but Joseph would get over it. Joseph didn't like that both of them were looking him in the eye. They weren't away like they should be. He blamed Daniel. His lame ass brother was probably saying things to them.

"How are we doin tonight?" Joseph asked them.

"How was school?" Reid asked as a reply.

"None of your business," Joseph said. He kicked Reid in the side, and smiled when Reid learned how to shut his mouth. "Both of you are lookin good."

Both of them had long legs which were kept up at their chests. It was hard decision to make. He wanted both of them at the same time, but that wouldn't work. They would fight. They were going to fight until they stopped getting fed. He would have to tell Ma. They were still too strong. He would have to settle for just one. He could have the other one later.

"Don't hide your goods," Joseph ordered. "Put your legs down!"

Neither one of them listened to him. They kept their legs right up by their chests, but they looked worried. Joseph took a few steps towards Kate, and slammed his boot into her calf. She gasped, but didn't scream. He was surprised when it started to bleed, but he blamed it on his big boots.

"Do you really want me to call Pa in here? He's drinkin, and he ain't goin be a good mood, but he'll get those legs down."

"Do you ask your daddy for everything?" Kate asked.

"Shut up you bitch! Pull your legs down!" He kicked her again in the hip, and she reluctantly pulled her legs down. She really was gorgeous. How did this woman ever get hired to be a high school teacher? She wouldn't have been if they could see her like this.

"I'm glad I could be your living naughty magazine," Kate said.

"I'm goin laugh when they kill you you BITCH," Joseph shouted. He turned away from her, and kicked Reid in the knees. "Your turn dork. Legs down."

Reid glanced at Kate, and lowered his legs. Joseph could see still wet blood on the floor where he was sitting. It was gross. The young agent looked terrified, but Joseph's dad really beat the poor guy up. Joseph was mad that he had to go to school and miss all the action. His dad wouldn't give him the details that he craved for. He wished he could just drop out of school entirely. It wasn't helping him any. He already knew all he needed to learn. Everything else the teachers tried to make him learn was a waste of time.

"Lindsay wouldn't talk to you again. Is that it?" Kate asked.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Joseph left Reid alone and went over to the teacher. Her legs were back up, but she was staring him in the eye. "You about to start bleeding down there or something cuz if you are, I'll have Pa shoot you right now."

"Lindsay has a boyfriend you know, a real boyfriend," Kate continued.

Reid looked just as confused as Joseph felt. What was the woman trying to do? Get herself killed? Joseph could do that, easy as blinking, but he couldn't figure out why she wanted to die.

"I'm glad I gave you all those detentions last month. You deserved every single one of them."

Joseph unhooked her from the bar, and pulled the woman to her feet. She stumbled at first, but she quickly found her footing. She wasn't as talkative once she was that close to him. All of them got scared at the end. He remembered how quiet Audrey got after he finished with her in the barn. It was almost like she knew was coming.

"Don't take her," Reid said. "I'm the one who will get you put away for life."

"I think both of you could get me put away for a long time," Joseph said pondering. "But I already got her up. Don't worry though. I'll come back for you agent."

Joseph pushed his pick out in the hallway, and he carefully shut the door behind him. Kate looked like she was about to run for it, but he grabbed her by the hair on her skull. She squeezed her eyes shut tight while he pulled her out into the kitchen. Ma was still sitting besides Hotch, and she was still stuffing ketchuped hotdogs into his unwilling mouth. Pa was searching for beer in the fridge, and Daniel was nowhere to be seen. The kid was probably in one of the bedrooms diligently doing his homework. Joseph still had a hard time seeing how they were related.

"Let's do it on the couch," Joseph said smiling. He squeezed her behind, and pushed her into the family room.

"Go on," Joseph said taking his shirt off. "Get on the couch you bitch."

Kate looked at the couch, and it looked like she was going to it for a second, but she changed direction and dashed for the front door. Joseph got his shirt off, and still had time to catch the stupid woman before she got away. He got her by hair again, and pulled her back to the couch.

"No! No! No, let me go!" she yelled out. She threw herself on the ground, but he wasn't letting go of her hair. If the bitch wanted to play, he could play right back. He lifted her up on the couch, and before she could try anything else, he raised his boot to her ribcage. He kicked as hard as he could on her black bruise, and she screamed. He used this opportunity to get his pants and socks off. He climbed on top of her, and went to work massaging her breasts.

"Quiet her up boy," Benjamin said walking in with his beer. "I wanna hear the news."

"Don't hurt her!" Hotch shouted from the kitchen. "Let her go. Take me instead!"

Joseph could see the blood on that guy's leg from the couch. It was disgusting, but the guy was fighting in his chair. He was moving around and yelling all kinds of threats, but none of that was going to make Joseph get off Kate. She was going to be his tonight, and the skinny kid was next. He couldn't wait to bring Reid out here just to watch Hotch scream. Hotch looked like he was about to break free of his restraints when his chair fell over. Joseph's Ma started laughing.

"He's just like them action movie stars, ain't he?" she asked with a giggle.

"Please stop this Joseph," Kate said.

He lifted his fist above his head like he was going to hit her, and he smiled when she cringed. Tears were falling down her eyes, and she kept bucking her hips to throw him off her, but he was bigger than her. He was taller, and he outweighed her by at least 50lbs. When she opened her eyes again, that's when he slammed his fist into her bloody bruise. She screamed.

* * *

><p>Kate didn't know the exact reasons that she volunteered herself for this. She knew that when Joseph walked in, he wasn't going back out empty handed. She liked Reid. She was trusting that he would help get them out of there. He was smart. She could tell by talking to him for just about five minutes, and the rest of their team was looking for them. It couldn't be too much longer before the others got there and this nightmare ended, but she didn't want Reid to be hurt anymore. He looked broken when Benjamin brought him back. Hotch never directly asked him what happened, and Kate never brought it up, but they both knew. If someone had to put up with the daily rapes from this satanic family, she would suffer through it. The agents needed to concentrate on getting them out, but that didn't make her any less scared. She was terrified.<p>

It was easy enough to get on Joseph's bad side. She knew him better than other teachers, and he was really the one kid she never wanted in detention. He would distract the other students, try fighting with her, and a few times, he never showed up at all. She was glad that she wasn't one of his teachers. She always felt sorry for the teachers who complained about him in the break room, but she did have to deal with Daniel. As strange as the younger brother was, she would choose him any day of the week. She wondered for a split second what they did at school that day. Who was substituting for her? Did the students have any inkling of what happened yet? She was going to get out there. She wasn't going to teach again, but she was going to get out of there.

"Joseph, please," she said trying to catch her breath. That bruise on her chest was killing her. She wished that they would just stop punching her there. She didn't care if she had a million other bruises as long as they left that one alone. "Joseph. You need to stop this. I know you can. Just let the skinny agent go. What could he possibly do? He doesn't have a gun. He doesn't even have his clothes anymore, and he'll probably just get lost trying to find the road, but please."

"I ain't stupid you bitch," he said grabbing her in between the legs. She gasped, but she didn't stop talking. She didn't know where Daniel was, and she felt she didn't have the time to sit around for him. Reid was the healthiest one of them, and he was fading fast.

"Look, I won't fight you," she said trying to keep what little control she had. "I won't fight you if you let him out. Do it tonight when no one else is looking or awake. Please, Joseph."

"I like it when you fight me," he said laughing. He rammed his hips into her, and she felt the tears fall freely down her face.

"Get off me!" she screamed again.

Joseph pulled his pants and boxers down to his knees, and went to rubbing at her body. She felt more violated than she did with this boy's father. His hands were all over her. There wasn't a spot that he didn't touch, a curve he didn't scratch at. He was more animal than human. How could that even be? He was tugging at her hair, and forcing her legs apart. Agent Hotchner was yelling something from the kitchen, but all she could concentrate on was the boy on top of her breathing deeply.

She bit her tongue much too hard when he pushed himself inside of her. She tasted blood in her mouth, and wondered if she actually bit some of her tongue off. She couldn't tell. The only thing she was aware of was the uneven pushing from Joseph. It was terrible. He wasn't as seasoned as his father was, and so every frantic thrust from the kid sent sharp pains up her body. She turned her face to one side, and tried closing her eyes, but that's when she noticed Daniel. He was standing by one of the doors, but he was barely noticeable. He seemed to blend in with his surroundings, but he was there. She could see his black eyes watching every push from his brother. He was probably watching the whole thing.

She thought about calling out to him. Agent Reid kept telling her that Daniel was probably their best bet, but she chose against it. He wasn't going to help her. If he wanted to, he would have done so long ago. He just wanted to watch one of his favorite teachers get raped. She closed her eyes shut, and willed it to be over. Once it was over, he would lock her back up in the freezer, and she'd have to wait until the next time one of them wanted her or Reid. She didn't know how much longer she would be able to distract them though. Sooner or later, they would go after Reid and Hotch, and then she could end up alone. That would be a death sentence for her.

* * *

><p>Laura thought it was good that Joseph went after the woman first. Just proved for her once and for all that her boy wasn't a queer. She was a little worried about her younger son, but he would come around sooner or later. She knew that he was watching the ordeal. He was a male, and males can't resist when it comes to women. All they need to see is a bare chest or feel a little squeeze on their guns, and they were good to go.<p>

She lost count of how many hotdogs she force fed to the Hollywood star, but she didn't think it was enough. She wanted to make sure that he wouldn't be hungry during the night. He was too perfect to ever suffer from a growling tummy. He got a little distracted when Joseph started plowing the teacher on the couch, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. She held his head steady, and pushed more of the meat inside his mouth.

"It's okay if you eat all the hotdogs in the house. I could always go out and get more," she said smiling. "You and that kid had some nice money in those pants you wore."

"Ma'am, I'm really full," he said with a mouthful of food.

She put the fork on the plate, and moved to sit on his lap. He had been so naughty when he fought hard to get out of that chair. What did he think he was going to do? Run to Joseph and get him off the stupid teacher? That wasn't going to happen. She sat down on the man's lap, and went to rubbing her hands against his chest.

"But big boys like you never get full," she said. She lowered one of her hands down to the tip of his boxer shorts, and smiled when she saw his face get considerably more uncomfortable.

"Ma'am, Laura, my leg is bleeding really bad. And um, we're going to need the couch if you want to get more personal so Joseph would need to put the teacher back," he said slowly.

"Oh, the couch can be arranged," she said smiling. She found his manhood hiding inside the boxers, and squeezed him. Hotch gasped, but didn't say anything. "Big boy!"

"Laura, I need something for my leg. I can do it, but I need paper towels or blankets or something. If I keep bleeding like this, I'm going to pass out," Hotch said.

Laura looked down at the leg that wasn't swollen and broken, and saw that he was right. There was way too much blood on the leg. She wondered if it would have to be amputated. That would be funny. She amputated a leg once before. Maybe it was an arm…but either way, it had to come off after the woman spent some time with her husband in the barn.

"Fine, fine," she mumbled.

"I'll do it Ma," Daniel said.

She didn't see him come in. She thought he was still in the TV room watching his brother have a great night. The kid really needed to stop sneaking around. It was freaking her out. She didn't care if he went to rape the other agent in the freezer as long as he would leave her alone.

"Go ahead Daniel," she said getting of Hotch's lap. "That will give your brother time to finish up in there. Then we get to the couch to ourselves Mister Hollywood."

Daniel wet some paper towels, and pulled up a chair next to Hotch just as he was leaning over. He threw up most of the hotdogs that Laura fed him. Laura would make Joseph clean up the mess. She was just going to feed the agent more. He needed to learn to stop puking. Daniel put one of the wet cloths behind Hotch's calf muscle, and held it there. Hotch took a deep breath through an open mouth, but he didn't cry out.

"This could get infected if the wounds aren't closed off tonight," Daniel said in a voice just above a whisper. "Some of these are really deep."

"We don't got no Band-Aids!" Benjamin called from in front of the television. "No Band-Aids for a dead man!"

"It doesn't have to a Band-Aid. We could tape some of these cloths to his skin. It has to be covered from the elements. An infection could kill him overnight," Daniel said.

"Fine," Laura said. She didn't really want to have a sexy time with a man with a bloody leg. The blood would get all over her. She would gross out, and that would be it. It did need to be covered up, and she didn't want to lose him so quickly. He was going to die. That was a given, but she wanted more time with him than just tonight.

Daniel grabbed some tape from the kitchen cabinets, and hurried back over. With skill that surprised even her, he got the towels taped over most of his leg. Blood soaked through the first several layers, but Daniel got the bleeding stopped and cleaned up the wounds. Daniel could have a future being a doctor if he wanted. Laura was sure that he had it in him, and she was proud. Hotch was still terribly pale when it was over, but he wasn't going to pass out anymore.

"How is your back?" Daniel asked.

"My back?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, I saw blood on it. Does it hurt? Does it need a bandage too?"

Without waiting for a response, Daniel leaped up and looked over Hotch's back. The bloody mark was large, but it wasn't as bad as what Benjamin did to his leg. Daniel wiped off the excess blood, and taped a paper towel to the mark. Daniel threw the bloody towels away, and disappeared back into the TV room without waiting for praise or approval.

"Thank you Daniel," Hotch called out. "Thank you."

"Can you stand up?" Laura asked. She didn't think she would be able to carry him over to the couch. She wouldn't be able to help him much either. He was bigger than her.

"My other leg is still broken," Hotch said. "A doctor needs to set it."

"You ain't goin see no doctor, and you're lucky my boy ain't afraid of blood. Next official person you're goin see is goin be the dude working in the morgue, and he won't care shit about your broken leg."

Joseph was just finishing with Kate on the couch. He collapsed on top of her for a second, but he pulled himself out a moment later. The woman beneath him was trembling. He pushed her off the couch, and she fell on her stomach. Kate was sobbing. She was really pathetic. Most women would kill to have a night with her son. Who did this bitch think she was?

* * *

><p>Reid sat alone in the freezer. Being alone was worse than anything he ever imagined. He could barely hear what was going on in the other room because the door was so thick. He didn't think that Hotch was dead, but he didn't know for sure. It was Laura who took him, but he had been gone for a long time. What could Laura be doing with him for so long? Did Benjamin end up taking him to the shower as well? Reid fought back the tears. He never thought that his first sexual encounter would be like that. Why would Daniel ask about that? He thought he was gaining some kind of ground with the boy, but it all disappeared the second he asked about the rape. He knew what his father was doing, but it didn't seem to bother him.<p>

Reid couldn't understand why Kate offered herself up like that. Reid studied this case for a while. He knew what was coming, and while he didn't accept it, he didn't really have a choice until the rest of the team showed up. He was supposed to protect her, not the other way around.

He stretched out his toes, and rolled his wrists around in the handcuffs that held him. There wasn't much more movement that he could do. He couldn't even get out of the bloody mess that he sat in. He needed to focus on their profile though. That's what Gideon would have him do. He could find a way out of this if he could just focus. Benjamin and Joseph seemed like the classic psychopaths. They didn't have any feeling, and they loved to inflict pain on others. It was a high for them, and they wouldn't stop until they got caught. Reid was afraid that when they did get caught, they wouldn't go down easy. This was the only life that Joseph and Daniel ever knew. It would be hard for them to ever change.

Something was wrong with Daniel. He didn't know what. He would need to talk to the boy more to find out what it was, but he was different. Reid didn't think it was bipolar. His mood changed quickly, but that wasn't it. What was it?

His thoughts changed back to Kate. He diagnosed her long ago, when she first left the room with Joseph. He knew that something was wrong with her for a while. Her bruise wasn't healing. It was getting worse if anything and they kept kicking her there. Whenever they wanted to hurt her, they would aim their shots for that bruise. Daniel was the one who originally made the bruise. Kate told him, and now that he thought about it, it made perfect sense. Daniel knew what he was doing. The human liver was located right underneath the ribcage which is where the bruise started. Her skin had been looking yellowish for the past several hours, and she wasn't keeping down the small amount of food that was given to her that morning. Her liver was shutting down, and fast. She needed to go to a hospital that night. Maybe Reid would be able to talk Daniel into letting her go. Reid was sure that he didn't want to lose his favorite teacher.

He rolled his neck, and looked at the freezer door. When were they coming back? He was getting nervous being alone. They weren't dead. He knew they weren't dead, but where were they?

_this was more of a hotch centered chapter, but hotch needed his chapter lol. he had it coming but ya. things are going to start picking up in the next chapter, and characters will start dying. its too sad but it has 2 happen lol. plz review u guys! reviews make me smile and keep me going. xoxo_


	15. Chapter 15

_and here is chapter 15 my lovely people. i didnt get that many reviews for the last chapter so lets try and change that! i updated super fast 4 this chapter, but it kinda wrote itself. i wasnt planning on putting this up until sunday but its beggin to be published so here it is. warnings: language (DUH), blood, torture stuff...its kinda grusome so watch out and enjoy!_

Sheriff Bill started going door to door the moment he got the notice about the town meeting the agents wanted that night. Agent Morgan insisted that he didn't have to go door to door, but Bill wanted to. He grew up with most of these folks, and he thought that if something out of the ordinary was going on, he'd be the first to know. Bill tried to move out of the town in his college years, but he never stayed away for long. His daddy was the sheriff before him, and he had to keep the record going. He was going to be sheriff until the day he died, and he expected his son to replace him once he was gone.

He had been to several houses so far, and with one exception, everyone could go to the meeting that night. The only person who couldn't attend was old Henry Robinson who was working the graveyard shift at the gas station. Bill excused him without question. If the FBI wanted to talk to the old man, Henry had no problem with it. He parked his car out front of the next family on his list. The sun hiding behind the trees was making it awfully dark so he pulled his jacket over him. He wasn't about to catch a cold out there. He radioed into the station to let them know where he was at, and he strolled up to the front door with his hands in his pockets. He rang the bell, and looked around the property. Nothing looked suspicious. Their truck was parked in the rocky driveway, the barn looked unused, and there was a pile of wood near the doorway for warm fires.

"Hey! Sheriff Bill! What brings you all the way out here?" Benjamin asked with a smile.

"Hey Benny!" Bill said. He gave Benny a friendly hug and a pat on the back. "How's your wife and boys?"

"They're just fine. My Laura might be comin down with a cold, but everything else is just great. How about you? What about your boy?"

"Robbie's still just a little guy, but we're doin just great. I'm sure you heard about the FBI here in town," Bill said.

"Yep. Seen 'em walking around at stores and stuff. Why?"

"You heard about all them bodies found in the woods, right?" Bill asked.

"Yeah, who hasn't?"

"I know you don't get out much, but they've been finding more bodies and more people have gone missing. I'm betting you it's one of those outta towners. The FBI is holding a mandatory town meeting tonight at 8pm. It won't be long, but they just want to tell all of us what to look out for."

"People are missing?" Benjamin asked.

"Oh ya. Can't give you much details, but one of them is a teacher. High school teacher. She hasn't been here that long. Wouldn't surprise me much if she was involved in this somehow. She's young, and she's not from here. Who knows what kind of wild friends she might have?"

"I feel ya," Benjamin said looking at his feet.

"Yeah, but the FBI agents decided to have a town meeting to tell y'all what's going on. I sure hope the teacher is alright though. I mean, if it isn't her pulling all this with her friends, then she could be in some serious trouble," Bill said.

"Oh, hey! Evening sheriff!" Laura said peeking her head out the front door. "Sorry I wasn't here greetin you earlier. The sniffles got me down."

"No worries missus," Bill said. "Just hoping you wouldn't mind showing your pretty face at the town meeting tonight. Benny here can tell ya more about it."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Laura said smiling.

"Great. I'll leave you then to finish up your supper. I'll be seein you then!"

"See you soon sheriff," Benjamin said.

Bill waved to them, and stepped down off their porch. He always liked that family. He could smell hotdogs coming from their kitchen, and their boys were probably working on their homework. It was the perfect American family. When his little boy was older, he couldn't wait to introduce him to Joseph and Daniel. They would be a good influence on the toddler.

* * *

><p>Hotch's heart skipped a beat when the doorbell rang. He couldn't believe it. Did the team find them already? They were good profilers, but even Hotch was skeptical of a rescue this fast. He wished more than anything that he didn't have ketchup dripping off his chin, but he wasn't in a position to be making those kinds of demands. He looked up for someone to answer the door, and the family was acting fast. Laura pulled Hotch's chair out of the kitchen, and placed him next to Kate who was still lying on the floor.<p>

"Get the gun!" she whispered to Joseph. The kid pulled his pants up, and ran into the other room while his dad slowly went to answer the door. Hotch could just see the front door where he was sitting. He could see the night sky, and the wooden boards holding up the front porch. Joseph was back with the gun before his father pulled the door opened.

"Any wise moves Mister Hollywood, and I give my son permission to put a bullet in this woman's brain," Laura threatened.

"Hey, Sheriff Bill!" Benjamin exclaimed.

Hotch's heart sank when Joseph pulled Kate to her knees and put the gun to her head. He knew that Joseph wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger. Hotch couldn't risk her getting killed. What could he do to attract attention to himself that wouldn't attract the attention of Joseph? Laura was cleaning up her face in the bathroom, but Joseph was smiling. He was clearly enjoying his new position of power, and it frightened Hotch. He was twirling Kate's hair in his fingers, and roughly grabbing at her nipples. She wasn't looking at Hotch.

Laura hurried to the front door when she was done with her face, and didn't acknowledge Hotch or Kate. Hotch heard her voice talking to the sheriff, and he bowed his head down. What could he possibly do? The sheriff was going to leave, and they were going to be in the exact same situation as before. They might even be worse off because now the family knew that the police were searching for them. The family just might want to kill them faster to get rid of the evidence.

Kate finally looked up at Hotch when it sounded like Laura was flirting with the sheriff. She was crying, and it was taking a lot of will power not to scream out with Joseph shoving the gun at her head. If Hotch yelled out, all of this would come to end. The sheriff would come in and save them. Hotch would be able to crawl into his bed, and forget any of this ever happened, but he couldn't do that. Joseph would shoot Kate, and Hotch couldn't live with himself if she was murdered because of him. What would stop them from killing the sheriff? In all honesty, they could shoot Kate and the sheriff. Hotch and Reid would be next in line to be killed. Hotch kept his mouth shut, but he felt like crying when the front door shut.

"What an ass," Benjamin muttered.

"He's not that bad," Laura said.

Joseph hit Kate with the butt of the gun, and laughed when she fell over. She looked ill, but they probably all looked like they had gone to hell and back and that house. Hotch was grateful that the younger kid had enough decency to look at his leg, but couldn't the others be looked at? He was sure that any kind of pain killers would do wonders with Kate and Reid.

"What did he want?" Joseph asked.

"Required town meeting," Laura said. She sat down on the couch, and turned the TV's volume up. The news was just ending.

"8pm," Benjamin said. "Me and your Ma gotta go. It's about the murders and missing people. The FBI wanna tell us what to look out for. Ha!"

"So we get to babysit tonight? Awesome! I wanted to play with the skinny dweeb before I went to bed. He's probably goin be more fun that this bitch here!" Joseph said laughing. He kicked Kate again. Hotch felt his blood boiling.

"You ain't stayin up late!" Laura said. "The meeting isn't goin last long, and we told the sheriff I got a cold so I'll probably goin leave early. Don't you got homework to do?"

"None tonight Ma."

"Where's your brother?" Laura asked.

"How the hell should I know? He got a brain of his own I think. He goes where he wants."

Hotch didn't care where Daniel was. The kid could have gotten eaten by a panther in the woods or something. Hotch wanted out of there now. Sweet talking Laura wasn't getting him anywhere and threatening Benjamin only made the fat man mad.

"You gotta find him before I let you have any more fun tonight," Laura said.

"Come on Ma! He's a big kid. He can take care of himself!"

"No, you find him!" Laura said. She stood up and stretched her arms over her head. "I'm goin go fix dinner. Sandwiches sound alright to you sweet cheeks?"

"We got cheese?" he asked.

"Yep, American cheese. I was goin put that with the ham and mayonnaise."

"Sounds good," Benjamin said.

"I'm goin heat up some more hotdogs for you Mister Hollywood," Laura said winking at him. "I know how you men like your meat."

Were hotdogs even considered meat? Why in the world was she feeding him that when they clearly had other food? Hotch felt like puking again. When was the last time Kate or Reid had anything to eat? He was sure that they wouldn't mind having a hotdog.

"Ma'am, I'm really not hungry," Hotch started.

"Oh no, I insist." She blew a kiss at him, and turned the corner into the kitchen. The smell of the cooking hotdogs made Hotch's stomach turn. He couldn't handle much more of this. He didn't think he had ever been so full in his life.

"Dad, you can watch the girl. I gotta go find Daniel," Joseph said. Benjamin grumbled some kind of agreement, and Joseph went out the back door.

Hotch thought that he forgot about what his son asked, but he grabbed a handful of Kate's hair, and pulled her on the couch with him. She cried out in protest, but didn't try to run. Hotch wanted out of that damned chair more than anything. He needed to do something.

"I want to go home," Kate said so quietly that Hotch thought he imagined it at first.

"You're really pretty girly," Benjamin told her, but he looked more enthralled about what was happening on the television than the sick woman beside him. "You think my boy might have gotten you pregnant? I've never been a granddaddy before."

"That's not surprising seeing as both of your boys are in high school," Hotch spat out.

"You shut your mouth agent!" Benjamin shouted at him.

"Please, I don't feel well," Kate said.

"No wonder, my Joseph's a big boy!" Benjamin said laughing.

"Yeah, he's a big boy with a big brain, but none of his big parts are in working order," Hotch said. He knew exactly what he was doing. If he could get Benjamin's fat ass off that couch, he would leave Kate alone and she would be able to run. "He's missing a lot upstairs and downstairs if you know what I mean. He's a lot like his old man, isn't he?"

"What are you yapping about?" Benjamin asked. He turned the television down, and looked over at Hotch.

"Just thinking about what a loser that your son is. He can't even get a girlfriend on his own. He has to kidnap girls so they will stay with him and he kills them so they can't leave," Hotch said.

"You don't know nothin about my son!" Benjamin exclaimed. He stood up, and tossed the remote back on the couch. Hotch wanted to tell Kate to run for it, but he couldn't risk the big guy turning around to grab her. She would have to figure out what Hotch was doing on her own.

"I know more about your son than you do. He's failing classes at school. He's too afraid to talk to girls, and the only thing he has forward to look forward to is an unpleasant life in prison. He's going to die before ever having children of his own."

Benjamin took the belt he was wearing off, and smacked it on the floor. Hotch cringed at the sound he made, but he wasn't going to stop until Kate was gone. He could just see her out of the corner of his eye, and she was catching on. She was sitting on the edge of the couch. Hotch didn't like the idea of her having to run out without any clothes on, but she would be able to find her way out of the forest faster than Reid could.

"See? You know it's true," Hotch said when Benjamin kept quiet. "Joseph will be lucky if someone kills him so he won't get gang raped in prison."

Benjamin raised the belt behind his head, and cracked in across Hotch's face. Hotch's head swung back from the sheer force, and it was started stinging with pain immediately. When Hotch looked back up, he saw Benjamin preparing for another swing, but that's when he saw Kate make a mad dash for the door. Everything happened so quickly. Benjamin didn't notice her running until he heard the front door open.

"Oh my God, that bitch," Benjamin mumbled. "Laura! That bitch is outside!"

Benjamin dropped his belt, and ran for the kitchen. He was going to try and cut Kate off by going out the other door. Hotch was praying that she didn't stop running. She needed to keep running even after she found the road. She needed to find somebody, and once she found a person willing to help her, she had to get to the hospital. She would make it. Kate was a strong woman. She just had to keep one step ahead of fatty fat fat.

* * *

><p>Rossi was looking forward to the meeting that night. He was sure that he was going to be able to spot the unsub that was holding two of his friends captive. He was still afraid that he was going to turn a corner and find a body at any second. It was unlike the unsubs to go this long without dumping a body, and it had been just about 24 hours since Reid and Morgan first went missing. They were smart. Rossi didn't doubt that, and they would be able to hold on, but what had they been through? They were dealing with sadistic rapists, not a bank robber with a grudge. Rossi was hoping against hope that Reid and Hotch didn't have to go through rape. In some ways, that was worse than getting beaten. He didn't want his friends to have deal with that.<p>

"I love how friendly the Olsons were," J.J. said sighing.

The Olsons was the first family on their list. Their daughter had been caught texting the day the bodies were found, and while their home seemed very inviting from the outside, the family was anything but. They treated the agents like they were some kind of roach that needed to be killed on the spot. They were not welcome inside the house, they were not allowed to speak with the daughter alone, and they were not allowed to look around the phone to see if there were any other suspicious text messages. As rude as the family was, Rossi didn't think they had the victims. From what they could see, the house looked clean, and both parents worked part time jobs. Rossi couldn't explain away their rude behavior though.

"Yeah, I thought if we stayed any longer, they would be inviting us to Thanksgiving dinner," Rossi said. He parked the car, and looked over the house that the Dillers lived in. "Well, Mrs. Diller lives here with her daughter. I don't see any information on a husband," Rossi said looking over the text Garcia sent him.

"Probably divorced," J.J. said. "I hate how common that is these days."

"Let's go see what Mrs. Diller and her daughter has to say," Rossi said. He led the way to the house, and walked up the few steps to get to the front door. The house was on the edge of the woods, but it was in good shape. There were chairs on the front porch, and a little bird house sat near the mailbox. If Rossi had to pick out a house to live in this town, this would be the house. Rossi just didn't like the view of the woods it had. It gave him the creeps.

He rang the doorbell, and J.J. wrapped her arms around her. The temperature was dropping rapidly, and Rossi wanted to get inside. Animals that lived in the woods were more likely to come outside after the sun went down, and Rossi wasn't too eager to come face to face with a hungry wild beast. He glanced behind him, but he only saw the hundreds of pine trees. No animals.

"Can I help you?" a woman asked opening the door. She had dirty blonde hair, and wore glasses.

"Yes, I'm Agent Rossi and this is Agent Jareau with the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI," Rossi said showing her his badge.

"Are you here about those murders?" she asked quickly.

"Your daughter was caught texting the other day in school," J.J. said. "We just wanted to talk to her and find out why she sent the text."

"Jane? I'll go get her. Come on inside both of you," Mrs. Diller said smiling.

Rossi and J.J. followed her inside, and were greeted with a breeze of warm air in their face. The heater was on making it very cozy inside the house. Rossi and J.J. were led into the family room, and they sat down on the couch. There were several baby photos of Jane above the fireplace, and there were a few professional photos of the mother with her daughter. Rossi was liking this house even more, but these people had nothing to do with the murders.

"Hey," Jane said when she walked in a few seconds later. "You want to see my phone?"

"We just want to know why you texted your mom that day," J.J. told her.

"Cuz. Wouldn't you want to tell your mom if there were FBI people at school? It's scary. I mean, wouldn't you people only be there if the killer was there?"

"Not necessarily," Rossi said.

"Nothin ever happens in this town, like ever, and then people start dying. I knew Audrey. I didn't know her good, but I knew her, and then she died. And then my mom didn't want me out past dark anymore, and I'm not allowed to stay after school cuz the killer might be there and they like girls my age for some reason."

"Your mom is just looking out for you," J.J. said gently.

"I know. I know that, but then the bad guys got Miss Parker? I mean, what the hell? And they got her from her house! They broke into her house and took her! What's keeping them from breaking in this house? They could take me and my mom. Aren't you guys supposed to catch them?"

"We're working on it Jane," J.J. said. "There's a town meeting tonight. You could go with your mom if you don't want to be alone here."

"The woods make it creepier," Rossi said. "And it probably is safer if you go with your mom. We're going to be telling everyone in the town what we're looking for. The bad guys are going to be caught."

"Are you going to save Miss Parker? She's one of my favorite teachers."

"We're going to find her," Rossi promised.

"Where are the other agents? Why didn't they come to talk to me? I think it was Agent Morgan and Agent Reid. They were cool."

Jane's mother had come up behind her, and squeezed on her daughter's hand. Rossi didn't want to tell them, but they did have a right to know. The murderers in their town were getting worse, and this might help them understand what a serious situation this was. They might be on the lookout more, and they could eventually help the team find the unsubs.

"Agent Morgan is talking to other families," J.J. said.

"Agent Reid went missing along with another member of our team shortly after we found out what happened to Miss Parker," Rossi said slowly.

"How do you know it was the bad guy? What if they just went somewhere else?"

"It was the same one," Rossi said.

Jane looked like she was about to cry. Rossi couldn't blame her, but he still thought one of the unsubs was someone in her class. It just wasn't this family.

"We're going to find everyone. Don't worry," J.J. said.

"I'm taking her to the meeting tonight. I'm not leaving her alone," Mrs. Diller said firmly.

Rossi zipped up his jacket, and led the way back out into the cold night. The sun was completely under the trees, and the crickets outside were already starting to chirp. Rossi locked the car doors once J.J. was inside, and he turned the heater on.

"That poor girl," J.J. said. "I'd be terrified just like her. This is a lot to deal with."

"I'd want my kids home right after school too. The mother is doing the right thing. We need to mention that during the meeting. Just because the unsubs do have three people right now, I have a bad feeling that they might go looking for more people soon."

"I know," J.J. said. "I don't think the unsubs are going to be looking on the roads anymore. They are devolving too fast."

"We could probably enforce some kind of curfew," Rossi said thinking out loud. "Keep all of the high school kids inside before sunset."

"Keep everyone inside after sunset," J.J. said. "They clearly aren't against taking men."

"Alright. Call Morgan and tell him what we found, and tell him the idea of a curfew. I'll drive us down to the town hall. The meeting's only an hour away, and we should probably get ready and eat something. I don't think any of us had lunch today."

"Okay," J.J. said pulling her phone out.

Rossi turned the car on, and looked one last time at the house they just visited. The porch light flickered, but it looked dead inside. He couldn't see any movement at all, but he figured the front door was locked in a dead bolt. Mrs. Diller wasn't going to let anything happen to her daughter. Rossi turned the car around, and headed back for the main road.

* * *

><p>Kate had no idea where she was. She heard shouting behind her, and she was sure that the boys were somewhere nearby. The cold was almost burning her, but she couldn't stop. She had to keep running. She hid behind a tree to catch her breath, and saw that sticks on the ground were cutting into her feet. She wasn't scared of anything living in the forest. She was just scared of getting found. She tried to look around, but it was so dark outside that she couldn't see her own hands. She pushed off herself, and tried running some more. She couldn't see anyone, but she sensed they were close by.<p>

"I think I hear her Pa!" Joseph yelled.

Kate crossed herself, and hid behind another tree. She could just see Joseph standing in front of the main road. How had they beat her to it? She turned around, and ran back towards the house. They wouldn't be looking for her there. They would be scouting out the road for a while until they figured they lost her. She could hide out until then.

She rubbed her hands together for warmth when she saw the house. There wasn't anyone around it, but she knew the agents were still inside. If she could just undo Hotch's rope, he would be able to fight back. She couldn't leave them in there alone. They would take out their anger on the agents, and she didn't want them to be killed because of her. She looked both ways, and crossed the path back into the house. The back door was still open, and she spotted Hotch tied to that stupid chair. She crossed herself, and crawled back inside.

"Is Laura here?" she whispered.

"Kate? Get out of here!" Hotch whispered back. "She's gone, but get out of here!"

"All of them are staking out the main road, but I can't leave you here like this. They're going to kill you," she said. She took the rope off the chair, and lifted Hotch's hands from behind. It was harder than hell with her own hands still behind her back, but she wasn't going to leave him like this. His hands were still in the cuffs, but at least he wasn't a sitting duck anymore. "I don't have the key."

"That's okay, but get out of here. Now!" Hotch yelled at her.

"Please be safe," she whispered back. She looked at Hotch one last time, and snuck back in the night. No one saw her. She ran back to the safety of the trees, and watched blindly as Joseph and Benjamin looked around the road. She wasn't stupid enough to go anywhere near her one source of freedom. She had to wait, but she was glad that she helped Hotch. She knew one of his legs was broken, but he might be able to find a gun before they got back. Why couldn't Sheriff Bill had come then? She was so cold.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you lost her old man!" Joseph yelled they got back inside. "I told you to watch her!"<p>

"Yeah, well, you should be watching your own bitch," Benjamin said.

"Both of you better pray that cunt freezes to death out there!" Laura shouted louder than both of them.

Hotch sat in the chair and kept as quiet as he could. He wasn't able to find a gun before they got back, but he did a discarded fork underneath the table in the family room. It wouldn't do much damage, but Hotch prayed for the best. He was just so happy that Kate got away. She would be able to get to the main road and find some help. All of this would be over that night.

"We better eat before that meetin tonight. Have a sandwich, and then we can go looking for that bitch some more. We'll find her."

Hotch was virtually ignored. No one even looked his way, and he was grateful for that. He didn't he would be able to handle another hotdog, but what he really wanted was to get back in the freezer. He needed to tell Reid all that happened. Reid had been in that freezer for hours all by himself, and that wasn't healthy. Hotch was still thinking that Reid broke at least one of his ribs in that car accident. Like Kate, the reddish bruise of Reid's chest wasn't getting any better. It was getting worse, but all of this would be over soon.

The family sat down at the table, and started stuffing the food into their mouths without conversation. The TV was still blaring, but no one was watching it. Hotch shifted awkwardly in his chair, but the family was too deep in their own thoughts to notice what Hotch was doing. Hotch took a deep breath, and let it out in contempt, but a terrified scream broke his peace. He looked towards the front door, and it was opened by Daniel who was pulling Kate with amazing strength. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, and pulling back, but Daniel had her by the scalp. Hotch couldn't believe it.

"Daniel, please!" she screamed, but Daniel didn't look phased. If anything, he looked bored. Kate's handcuffed hands were flailing up behind her, and she fell on the wooden floor, but Daniel just kept dragging her.

"Found her behind a tree. Thought she was peeing but she wasn't," Daniel said calmly.

"Bravo boy!" Benjamin said standing up. "I knew you'd get her!"

"He only found her cuz he likes hanging around creepy old trees," Joseph mumbled. He took another bite of his sandwich, but didn't look at his brother.

"What's in your hand?" Laura asked slowly.

"Found a crowbar," Daniel said smiling. He lifted it up from his side, and displayed it proudly to his family. "Isn't it cool?"

The kid wasn't stable, and Hotch got an overwhelming feeling that something wasn't right. His parents didn't even look too pleased that their boy was standing in the entry way holding a screaming woman and a crowbar. Daniel let go of Kate's hair, and she pushed herself to her feet and lunged for the door. She got the door open, but Daniel raised the crowbar over his head and slammed it into her skull with such force that she was knocked off her feet. Blood squirted out of her mouth as Daniel pulled her back up.

"Daniel, you should probably just tie her back in the freezer," Benjamin said slowly. "I kinda wanted to have some more fun with her tonight."

Hotch found his footing, and lifted himself out of the chair. He didn't put any weight on his broken leg, but he didn't think he would be able to run and save Kate. He could cause a distraction though, and that could get Daniel to drop that crowbar.

Daniel pulled the hair out of Kate's face, and leaned close to one of her ears. His free hand was rubbing her body, and tears were streaming out of Kate's eyes. Hotch tightened his fist around the fork in his hand.

"I knew I'd be the one to kill you Miss Parker," Daniel said quietly. "I kept thinking my brother was goin choose Agent Reid tonight so I thought I was goin kill him first, but its okay that you're here. I like you."

"Daniel, please," Kate whispered through her tears. "Don't do this."

Daniel took a step back, and swung the crowbar behind him like a baseball bat. Kate could barely stand. The left side of her face was stained with wet blood, and the calves of her legs were badly cut up from running in the forest.

"Hey!" Hotch shouted as loud as he could. "Dweeb! Don't you want to try out that crowbar on someone who can still fight back?" Hotch lifted up the chair with his handcuffed hands, and somehow threw the chair a considerable distance. He turned around, but Daniel still hadn't turn around. Daniel wasn't standing straight though. It looked like he was about to fall over as if he was standing on a merry go round. This kid really was sick.

"Come on you skinny nerd! Fight me!" Hotch screamed.

Daniel finally swung the crowbar at Kate, and it collided with her black bruise. She leaned forward, and coughed out more blood. Her mouth hung open as she gasped for breath, and her eyes weren't focusing anymore. She fell on her knees, but after a few more seconds of desperate breathing, she still turned towards the front door. Daniel swung the crowbar once more, and it hit the side of her skull. She fell on her stomach, and Hotch watched silently as Kate breathed one last frantic breath, but then it was over. Kate's head fell on the ground, and her open eyes stared in Hotch's direction. Kate was gone.

No one said anything at first. All of them were staring at Daniel who was now on the floor with Kate. He was combing her hair with his fingers, and Hotch turned around to puke. He watched the hotdogs come back out his mouth, but no one noticed. When Hotch looked back up, Daniel was pulling Kate's body back up. Her eyes were still open.

"I'm goin take her in my room," Daniel said in a pleasant voice. "I want to play with her."

Everyone watched Daniel pulling Kate into the hallway. Hotch almost puked again, but he managed to hold it in. No one even moved until Daniel shut the bedroom door. Even then, it took at least a minute before anyone spoke.

"That was weird," Joseph said.

"So she's dead?" Laura asked.

"The woman was bleeding out of the side of her head Laura. She's dead," Benjamin said. "And he's probably doing gross stuff to her body right now."

"Yeah, I ain't sleeping in there tonight Pa. That's disgusting," Joseph said.

"I agree with you boy," Benjamin said. "I didn't want to kill her just yet. I really did want to play with her tonight some more. She was fun."

"We're going to have to get rid of her body by morning," Laura said after another moment of silence. Hotch noticed that their sandwiches were untouched.

"I'm not taking her away from that boy," Benjamin said. "He looked really excited."

"She's goin start stinking soon!" Laura said. "There's blood all over the damned floor. She is goin be stinkin, and I'm not dealin with that crap. You are goin to get the body, and Joseph, you can clean up that blood while we're gone tonight. Got it?"

"Why don't you make Daniel clean it up? He did it!"

"Just do it!" Laura said. "Sweetie cakes, could you get Hollywood back in the freezer? He's just standing over there with nothin to do. I'm goin get the table cleaned off."

Hotch didn't resist when Benjamin got Hotch by the cuffs. He still had the fork in his hand, but the fat man was too deep in thought to notice. Hotch knew there were tears in his eyes. There was just so much blood at the front door, and it just wasn't some random victim. It was Kate, and she was the only reason that he was even a little armed. Hotch didn't even think about Daniel wandering around the woods. He should have known better. He let Kate down.

* * *

><p>Reid kept moving around to keep his legs from falling asleep, but did it really matter? The family was having too much with Hotch and Kate to remember he was there. Reid layed his head down on the wall to relieve a headache he had when the door opened. Benjamin escorted Hotch inside, and tied Hotch to the wall without looking at Reid. Reid kept quiet until Benjamin left, and locked the door behind him.<p>

"Hotch? Are you okay?"

One of Hotch's legs was covered in taped up paper towels. He could see blood underneath the towels, and Reid was a little bit afraid to find out what happened. Hotch still had his boxer shorts on, but that didn't mean anything. Hotch was sweating, and he looked terribly pale.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hotch said. His voice sounded strained. "The team organized a town meeting tonight. Benjamin and Laura are on their way. They are getting closer to finding us."

"Really?" Reid asked. He didn't want to get excited, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't wait to get out of that freezer.

"The sheriff came by earlier to tell them about the meeting. It's mandatory, and I'm sure the team is going to find them. Benjamin doesn't exactly blend in with normal people."

"Does Kate know yet? She's going to be so happy, but Hotch, she's sick. I was trying to figure out why Daniel kept kicking her in that one spot, and the more I thought about, it all made sense. Her liver is there, and she's showing signs of liver failure. She has to get a hospital. I don't know how much longer she can live like that," Reid said. He remembered how yellowish her skin looked, and Reid's heart sank.

"She's gone," Hotch said after a moment.

"What?" Reid asked. Did she finally escape?

"She's dead," Hotch answered. "Daniel killed her. He found a crowbar in the forest, and was eager to show it off."

Reid's breath caught in his throat. She couldn't be dead. It was easy to think that someone was dead when they were unconscious or not moving, but that was a mistake. She had to be alive still.

"How do you know? What if she's just," Reid started.

"She's dead Reid," Hotch said again.

"But what if," Reid rambled. She couldn't be dead. He just saw her a few hours ago.

"I'm sorry," Hotch said. He bowed his head, and Reid noticed that the older man was trying to fight back his own tears.

"What happened?" Reid asked. He didn't want to know, but he had to know.

"You'll probably see her again," Hotch said. "I don't think Daniel is going to give her up easily."

A stray tear fell from one of Reid's eyes, and he instinctually tried to wipe it away. He moved his hands only to be reminded that he was still a prisoner. She really was dead, and the last things he said to her was that he would get her out. The only reason that Joseph took her was because she was taunting him. She was trying to protect Reid, and now she was dead.

"How did she die?" Reid asked.

"I told you. Daniel found some damned crowbar, and wanted to try it out on her head. I can't say anymore."

Hotch wasn't lying. He was looking ill, and Reid wasn't going to make him say something that he couldn't say. Kate's murder was terrible, but it also reminded both of them of their own mortality. If their captors could kill Kate, it was only a matter of time before they were next. Reid couldn't talk about Kate anymore. He didn't think he would be able to handle the details of what happened to her, but he was sure that he would see her body again.

"Who did that to your leg?" Reid asked.

"It was Benjamin. He's got a pitchfork out in the barn."

"Then who bandaged you up?" Reid asked. The taped up paper towels looked pathetic on first glance, but as Reid studied them, he saw that it really was helping. From what he could see, the bleeding had stopped.

"Daniel."

For some reason, Reid wasn't surprised by this. He took care of Hotch's bleeding leg, went out playing in the woods, and came back just to kill his teacher. Reid licked his lips nervously. He needed to find out what the boy's problem was. Once he figured it out, things would just work themselves out or just get worse. Reid was praying for the former.

* * *

><p>Joseph waved off his parents as they backed out of the dirt driveway and drove into town for the stupid meeting. He has glad that he didn't have to go. He didn't want to go. He locked the front door when he got back inside, and lazily wiped up most of the teacher's blood from the entryway. He shouldn't even have to have done that. He didn't kill the bitch. His dumb ass brother did so why wasn't he cleaning up the blood? Blood didn't wipe off as easily as other liquids. It stained easily, and Joseph didn't have the patience to work with it. He tossed the rag in the trash when it looked good enough to him.<p>

He took one of his Pa's beers from the fridge, and planned to spend the rest of the night watching television, but he wanted to check on his brother first. As quietly as he could, he snuck down the hallway and cracked open the door. Daniel was sitting on the bed with Kate beside him. Her eyes were finally closed, but that didn't make the image much better. Daniel was lovingly brushing her hair and feeling her up. The blood was still wet on her face, and bruise still looked like it was dripping with a questionable substance.

"I told you it would be alright. Didn't I Miss Parker?" Daniel asked the dead girl beside him. "I'm sure I did all my homework just fine, but the substitute isn't as smart as you."

Joseph shut the door, and felt like barfing. There was something seriously wrong with his brother, and he was positive that Daniel would be banging the dead teacher within an hour. Joseph shrugged off the nauseating feeling building in his gut, and sat down on the couch. Dr. Phil was just ending, but Joseph didn't want to watch that anyway. He found a cartoon playing on another channel, and after taking a sip out of his beer, he settled down on the couch.

_ya guys, im about 2 cry too lol. the chain of events didnt work out 2 well for kate. which sux cuz she was awsum. but plz review! i barely got any reviews for the last chapter and thats so sad cuz reviews make me smile! till next time! xoxo_


	16. Chapter 16

_heya guys. im really goin work my other story next so enjoy this chapter lol. um, this chapter has a lot of warnings like language (always language), rape, and other pretty gross stuff. so read at ur own risk. daniel is n this chapter a lot so thats always fun. ive taken a liking 2 the kid so here it is =)_

Hotch noticed how quiet Reid got after finding out what happened to Kate. Hotch wanted to comfort the younger man somehow, but nothing he could say would bring Kate back. It was proof of how easy it was for Daniel to snap, and Hotch was beginning to think that he was the most dangerous member of the family. Hotch was usually very good at predicting the behavior of people like this, but nothing Daniel did was predictable. Hotch was getting nervous. He would never tell Reid, but he was losing hope of ever getting out of there alive.

"How does your chest feel?" Hotch asked. The bruise had grown over most of Reid's thin chest, and it looked painful.

"It's fine," Reid said. Hotch knew that wasn't the truth, but he decided not to pester him.

"We need to find out more about Daniel. His family looked just as shocked as I did when he found that crowbar. He's devolving, and fast," Hotch said.

"He might be physically sick," Reid said. His voice was quiet, and Hotch knew the agent was still thinking about the teacher. "He's been having headaches. He doesn't want to talk about them, but he does have them and I think they are quite severe."

"He wasn't standing straight either," Hotch said remembering how the kid was swaying side to side and sweating profusely. He thought Daniel might have been nervous, but that didn't make sense. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he was probably planning the murder from day one. He wasn't going to tell Reid about how Daniel thought Reid was going to be out there. The kid wanted to kill Reid, but Hotch was never going to give him that chance.

"Could he have the flu?" Hotch asked. He didn't think that was it, but he really didn't know what he believed anymore.

"I don't think so. No one else is coming down with any symptoms," Reid said.

"Even if he is sick, that doesn't explain his actions. He knows what he's doing, and if we bring it up, it might make him angrier than he already is. I don't think he is going to help us," Hotch finally said. "I kept thinking that he might change because he liked his teacher, but that didn't work out at all."

"I think if we found out what was wrong with Daniel; it might help us work with him better. I just can't think straight right now."

"Well, there's a meeting tonight in town. The whole team is probably going to be there, and I'm sure that they are going to find Benjamin and Laura," Hotch said with confidence. He had the best team in the world. They weren't going to let Benjamin go under the radar.

"Do you think Prentiss is alright from the car accident?" Reid asked. "I can't remember."

Hotch opened his mouth to answer when the door was pushed open. Hotch straightened up against the wall, and tried to assure Reid with his eyes that he was going to be alright. Everything was going to work out. Hotch didn't think he could ever forgive himself for what happened to Kate. He was there. He could have prevented it, but he just stood there like a fool. He let her down, but he wasn't going to let Reid down. He held his breath when he turned to see who it was, and his heart fell when he saw it was Daniel. He was really hoping it was Joseph who was coming in to taunt them. He knew how to handle Joseph, but not his younger brother.

"She was fine," Daniel said. "She was bleeding, but it wasn't bad. I think she was actually waking up when we left."

"How did you hear us talking?" Reid asked with a shaky voice.

"I was standing by the door," Daniel answered. "I want Agent Reid to look over my homework. I have some math problems that I'm having trouble with, and I don't want to get a bad grade."

"Bring it in here," Hotch said.

"I can't concentrate in here," Daniel said already walking over to Reid. "It's too cold in here, and I like to sit in chairs."

Daniel got Reid to his feet after taking off his restraints, and Hotch felt his blood boiling when the bratty kid looked over Reid's body. Reid didn't seem to notice, but he looked scared to death. Hotch couldn't let Daniel take him.

"I'm good at math," Hotch said raising his voice. Hotch actually hated it, but he wasn't going to tell Daniel that.

"Maybe so, but Reid's a doctor," Daniel said smiling. "He told all of us the first night he came."

Hotch tried pulling at his restraints without even realizing it. Daniel was going to take Reid away, and Hotch didn't know if he would ever see Reid again if that happened. He couldn't let anything happen to the boy genius. His eyes were tearing up when he saw the dried blood on Reid's rear end, but he managed to keep his composure.

"Take me," Hotch said. "I'll do all your homework."

"Then I won't learn," Daniel said. "Besides, you can barely walk."

Daniel stood behind Reid, and pushed him out the open door. Both of them were gone before Hotch could say another word. The big door locked behind them, and Hotch was left alone in the freezer with the blood from Kate and Reid still staining the floors.

* * *

><p>Reid's feet were cold, and he didn't know why Daniel insisted on taking him away from Hotch, but Reid kept his mouth shut. Hotch was right. The kid was devolving right before their eyes. It wouldn't be long before he finally snapped for good, and when that happened, no one in that house would be safe. He would be killing his parents as easy as he killed a woman off the street. It was going to come to that. Reid was sure of it.<p>

Daniel pushed Reid down the hallway, but they skipped the door to the boy's bedroom. The parent's room was near the freezer, and so Reid had no idea where they were going. Daniel stopped at a room across from the bathroom. He opened up the door, and nudged Reid to go inside. It was dark at first, but Daniel turned on a light.

"Sorry for the weird smell. Ma hasn't cleaned in here for a while," Daniel said calmly.

Reid stood in the center of the room trying to take it all in. This was a baby's room. The walls were painted pink, a baby crib was located in the corner of the room, and there was even a rocking horse near a plump chair. Brightly colored paintings were on the walls, and the window even had a pink frilly material over the top. This room didn't fit in with anything else in the house. This room was well taken care of, and Reid was surprised that the family could even afford all of this.

"What is this room?" Reid finally asked.

"The baby's room," Daniel answered.

"The baby?"

"Ma got pregnant a long time ago, and this was going to be the baby's room. Baby Anne. Ma always wanted a little girl, and she kept thinking this baby was going to be the girl, but she miscarried before they ever found out. She keeps this room nice in case she ever gets pregnant again, but the doctor said she can't have any more babies. She really wanted that baby."

"Why did she want a baby girl so badly?" Reid asked.

"I don't know. She didn't have any sisters growing up so I suppose that's part of the problem."

Reid noticed that all of Laura's children were given biblical names. Joseph was the stepfather of Jesus Christ, and the story of Joseph and his multi colored coat from the Old Testament was still a favorite among children. Daniel was a popular prophet from the Bible, and was a saint in the Catholic Church, and Anne was the Virgin Mary's mother. Despite of what this family did, they were still religious. They prayed at meals, and Reid was certain they went to mass on Sundays.

"Are you thirsty?" Daniel asked.

"A little," Reid answered honestly. He didn't remember the last time he had a drink.

"I'll get you some soda. I gotta tie you up first," Daniel said. He pushed Reid near the rocking chair, and Reid saw the ropes already put in place. "Sit down."

Reid sat down, and Daniel went to work securely tying him to some pipe on one of the walls. Reid hated being locked up, but at least he wasn't in the bathroom with Daniel's dad. Reid felt his arms pull out from the rope, and Daniel stood back up.

"I'll be back. Let me grab my work and get you that soda," Daniel said.

Daniel smiled at him, and shut the door behind him when he left. Reid looked around the room again, but something was different. The room looked perfect though. He couldn't see anything out of place, but then he looked at the rocking chair. His heart stopped for a moment. Kate was sitting on the chair, still naked, and the chair was rocking lightly under her weight. Reid couldn't move. How in the world did he miss her? He must have been taken back by how beautiful the room was, but how could he miss Kate just sitting there? He pulled at his restraints, and scooted as far away from her as he could. He wasn't afraid of corpses. He had seen plenty, but it came with the job. He just wasn't used to seeing one that he knew. He spoke with her only a few hours ago, but now she was sitting lifeless beside him. Reid wanted out of that room.

Rigor mortis was just beginning to set in. There wasn't a strong smell coming from her body, but that was going to be happening soon judging from the open wounds. The black bruise on her chest was torn open, and she had blood covering one side of her face. Reid couldn't tell what killed her, but it was probably the head wound. One of her eye sockets looked like it had caved in, and her hair was badly matted with thick blood. Her hands were out of the handcuffs, but that only showed her bruised wrists and broken fingernails. Reid turned away. He couldn't look anymore. He kept telling Kate that he was going to save her, and he let her down.

Daniel came back with the soda, but he didn't seem to notice Kate on the chair. He set the homework down in front of Reid, and put a straw in the soda cup.

"Why are we in here Daniel?" Reid asked after he took a sip of soda.

"So you can help me with my homework," Daniel said.

"I don't think I'll be much help," Reid said glancing over at Kate.

"Oh! You don't like her?" Daniel asked as if suddenly realizing there was a corpse sitting by them. "She's just help here to help. She's a teacher."

"She's dead," Reid said slowly.

"I know, but she's comforting to have around. She's my favorite teacher."

"Then why did you kill her?" Reid asked.

"She needed to die."

"Daniel," Reid said looking at the teenager. "She didn't want to die. You murdered her."

"She needed to die," Daniel repeated. He lifted up the cup, and Reid took another drink. He was terribly thirsty, but he was more interested in what Daniel was thinking.

"How are your headaches?" Reid asked.

* * *

><p>Daniel really needed help with his homework so he didn't like the accusing glares he got from the older agent when he went to the freezer. Daniel was in control, not Hotch. His headache had gotten much better after his teacher was killed, but he still had to deal with the annoying little circle he kept seeing in front of his left eye. It would come and go, but it had been getting worse lately. He blamed it on the agents being there. Once all of them were dead, the circle would go away for good and his headaches would never come back. He would kill them later. He just wanted to do well on his math homework first.<p>

He left Reid with Kate while he got his papers and grabbed Reid a soda. He knew the doctor had to be terribly thirsty. He had to keep the agent hydrated if he was going to help him. When he returned with the soda, Reid was terribly pale. It looked like he had just seen a ghost. Daniel had seen ghosts before. He knew they were real, no matter what his brother said. If he was lucky, Kate would come back as a ghost to visit him. That would be amazing.

"Why are we here?" Reid asked.

Daniel couldn't understand him. He told Reid why they were there. He wanted to get an A on his assignment.

"So you can help me with my homework," Daniel explained. He spread out the homework in front of Reid, and made is so the papers were facing the young agent.

"I don't think I'll be much help," Reid answered, but he kept looking at Kate. Was she making him nervous? That couldn't be possible. She wasn't going to hurt him.

"Oh!" Daniel said smiling. "You don't like her? She's just here to help. She's a teacher." Daniel looked up at her, and he regretted closing her pretty eyes. He knew her eyes would start rotting soon enough, but he didn't like having to close her eyes to the world forever.

"She's dead," Reid said.

Daniel got angry, but he looked down at the papers. He wasn't going to let his anger get the best of him. He needed to get a good grade.

"I know, but she's comforting to have around. She's my favorite teacher," Daniel explained. He really was going to miss her. No teacher would ever be as good.

"Then why did you kill her?" Reid asked.

"She needed to die," Daniel said after a moment's pause. The dancing circle in front of his eye was distracting him. What would make that go away?

"Daniel, she didn't want to die. You murdered her," Reid said.

"She needed to die," Daniel repeated. He squeezed one of his hands into a fist, and his fingernails ripped into his skin, but he couldn't feel it. Reid needed to stop asking questions. Daniel lifted the soda cup back up, and let Reid have another drink.

"How are you headaches?" Reid asked after he swallowed.

Daniel squeezed the cup in his hand, and threw it at Reid. The agent didn't have time to react or move away. It smacked him in the right eye. Reid started breathing through his mouth, but didn't say anything. Daniel stood up, and went over to Kate. She was really the only one who ever understood him. He ran his fingers through her hair, and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Reid was going to have to do. Kate liked Reid. If she did, Daniel had to too.

"Can we look at my homework now?" Daniel asked.

"You're really sick, aren't you?" Reid asked.

Daniel got down on the ground in front of Reid, and grabbed the agent's member with both hands. He ran his fingernails across the delicate flesh, and Reid's breathing sped up. He dug his nails down into Reid, and the agent screamed. He twisted his body, but Daniel held him tightly and yanked whenever Reid moved too much.

"Stay still or I'll cut it off. I have a knife," Daniel threatened.

"Let's look at your homework," Reid said trembling.

Daniel ignored him, and lowered himself even further. Using both hands, he put Reid's member into his mouth. He ran his teeth over it, but he wasn't going to bite down. He would never do that. Miss Parker wouldn't approve, and she was watching. Instead, he ran his tongue over it and savored the different taste in his mouth. They would work on his homework after the agent came. Daniel never did anything like this before, but he loved it. Later on, he wanted to try this out for himself using Reid's mouth.

"Please stop," Reid said, but Daniel didn't listen.

Reid was growing in Daniel's mouth, and Daniel kept up the steady motion which gave the agent unwanted feelings of pleasure going through his body. It was fantastic. Reid's head fell back, but Daniel tried not to notice. He kept himself busy with the task at hand, and moments later, the young man working for the FBI came in Daniel's mouth. Daniel swallowed, and let Reid's member fall from his mouth.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Daniel asked. The annoying circle was gone from his vision, and he wiped any extra liquid off of his mouth using his shirt sleeve. "Want to do look at my papers now? It's Algebra, and that's never been my best subject."

* * *

><p>Morgan stood next to Rossi and Prentiss as the large room filled up with people. J.J. was setting up at the podium. She would be the one that spoke to the people. She would tell them what kind of unsubs they were looking for, and she would inform them of who was abducted last. Morgan was somewhat confident that all of them were still alive since no bodies had been found, but he didn't know how long that would last. When a body was found, they had to be on their feet because it wouldn't be long before the unsubs abducted someone else.<p>

"Do you think he will be here tonight?" Prentiss asked.

"I'm sure of it," Morgan said looking over the people. "The sheriff got every person in the town to come except for that guy working the late shift."

"And I got him checked out already with Garcia," Rossi said.

The people were sitting in chairs set out for them, and J.J. was talking over her notes with the sheriff, but no one was standing out in particular to Morgan. They were mumbling among themselves, but not one of them seemed terribly worried about a murderer living in their town. One of them knew where Hotch and Reid were. One of these people were holding Morgan's friends captive, but he was going to find them.

"We're ready to begin," Sheriff Bill told them as he walked over. "The deputies tell me that everyone's here. You want me to do anything special?"

"Just be yourself Sheriff," Morgan said. He nodded at J.J. to tell her it was okay to begin talking.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," J.J. said speaking into the microphone. Morgan couldn't say that he considered any of those men gentlemen, but he had to let it go. "Please find your seats. We are ready to begin."

Morgan nodded at Prentiss and Rossi, and the three of them walked off the stage and went their separate ways to get a closer look at the people. Morgan knew who he was looking for. They had been talking about the possibility of the unsubs being a mother and son earlier, but it would be more likely to be a couple with their son. Even if Hotch was badly hurt, he would be able to fight off any woman with a teenage kid. With two large adults plus a teenager, Hotch wouldn't be able to defend himself for long.

"My name is Jennifer Jareau, and I am here with my team. We are from the Behavioral Analysis Unit in the FBI. Here with me are Agents Morgan, Prentiss, and Rossi. We are here dealing with a very serious issue that most of you know about. We were called here with the disappearance of a high school student. She was found murdered, but the body count didn't stop rising. Three people were recently abducted, and we need your help to find them. One of them is a teacher that was working at the high school. Her name is Kate Parker, and she is 25 years old. The others are part of my team. Agent Aaron Hotchner is the leader of our team, and Agent Spencer Reid is with him. They were abducted during a car crash which was caused by the unsubs."

Morgan was looking up and down the aisles. Sadly, none of the people were sticking out to him. Most of them weren't even looking at J.J. who was still speaking. Didn't these people care at all? What if one of them was taken next? They would sure listen then. It didn't look like Prentiss or Rossi were having much luck either. What were Hotch and Reid doing? He couldn't help but wonder. He knew in his heart that they were still alive.

"I'm sure you have seen them walking around the town before. We have been working on the profile, and are ready to release it you in hopes of finding the missing people. If you think you can help us or you know who the unsub is, please do not approach or try to talk to them. They will be armed, and they are to be considered very dangerous. We think they will go down fighting. They are not going to stop until they are caught."

"What's an unsub?" an older man shouted from the back. Prentiss was near him, and was making her way over to look him over, but Morgan suspected he was fine. The unsubs wouldn't be calling attention to themselves like that.

"Unknown subject," J.J. answered.

Morgan was focusing on the couples. There were a few couples there, but not that many which was good. He was studying their behavior or looking for anything out of place with their clothing, but nothing was popping out. He was even looking for blood on shirts, but there was nothing. Morgan kept walking though. He wasn't going to quit.

"We are looking for a couple with a teenage son. The teenage son might have been in Kate Parker's class, but he was definitely in the same high school. One or both of the parents are unemployed. The man will be tall, and will be physically intimidating. He's probably someone you all know. He will drive an old van or a pickup truck. It won't stand out. He's lived in this town most of his life so he isn't someone who will come easily to mind when you think about it. He will be quick to anger though. He doesn't live the near town, and he doesn't call attention to himself. His wife and son both help with the abductions and murders."

Rossi was talking to a couple in a back corner, but Prentiss and Morgan were still looking through the people there. Morgan didn't know there were that many people in the God-forsaken town. Morgan was about to go back up the aisle when he saw a strange looking couple. They kept whispering to each other, and Morgan took a mental picture of them in his mind. If they weren't seated in the middle of the row, he would be talking to them right now. The man, alongside his beer belly, was the perfect fit to the description J.J. just gave.

"If anybody sees or hears anything suspicious, please call the police immediately. The people missing don't have time on their side."

"How do you know they ain't already dead?" a toothless woman shouted out.

"We think that all of them are still alive until proven otherwise," J.J. said.

"Do you know that your unsub guy fit the description of most of the people livin here?" a man asked. "The economy stinks so more than half of us don't got no work and I find that driving a truck is more productive than driving some fancy convertible."

"If I find the man who killed Audrey, I'm goin blow his ass into next week!" another man yelled.

"I'd invite him for dinner," an older woman said smiling. "That good for nothin teacher was failing my Johnny."

They were losing control of the crowd and fast. The people were shuffling in their seats, and the quiet whispers grew to obnoxious threats. Rossi was trying to keep people seated, and J.J. was trying her best to regain the crowd control.

"Listen to the lady till she's done speaking!" Sheriff Bill shouted.

The crowd finally settled down, and Morgan thought J.J. would be able to finish her speech, but a teenage girl ran through the doors crying. Her hair was a mess, and she had black dirt across her face, but Morgan knew it wasn't the unsubs. If the parents were there, the boy would be at home with Hotch, Reid, and Kate. He wouldn't be causing more trouble on the streets. Prentiss was the closest to the girl, and got to her before any of the people there could react.

"There's a fire!" the girl sobbed. "The library. It's caught on fire!"

"What?" Sheriff Bill asked.

"Some boys were drinking. The whole building is on fire!"

Sheriff Bill jumped off the stage, and all of the townspeople were on their feet before the sheriff and several deputies were out the door. Morgan sighed, and watched the couple that he wanted to speak with disappear into the crowd. Rossi walked to Morgan's side, and both of them looked out one of the closed windows. Grey smoke was rising into the night air from across the street, and from the looks of it, the library didn't look like it was going to make it.

"I guess this is what happens when we take all of the adults out of town for an hour," Rossi commented.

"I don't think they were even listening to me," J.J. said walking down the stairs of the stage. "Did you guys find anything?"

"I found several couples that looked interesting," Rossi said. "I only talked to one of them though, and it turns out they left four small children at home to attend the meeting. I just don't understand people sometimes."

"Do you think the fire was a distraction for us?" Prentiss asked. The crying teenager had found her mother, and now it was only the four of them left in the large room. The fire department was working on getting the blazes out, but Morgan didn't care about that. He really didn't care about anything that happened in that town.

"Probably not," Morgan said. "If every adult was here tonight that meant the third unsub was home alone with Hotch, Reid, and that teacher. He wouldn't have time to run out here and light some fire."

"Unless he was dropping off a body," J.J. said slowly.

All of them looked back out the window, but Morgan couldn't see anything lying on the ground. If a body was dropped off, it would be in plain sight along with some frightening message for the rest of the team, but nothing was out there. Morgan was scared to death that he would find a body though. His heart was racing, and he could feel the sweat building up in the palms of his hands. He didn't know what he would do if the body was of Hotch or Reid, and if their bodies were found, there wouldn't be any chance of bringing them back. These unsubs skinned the faces of their victims, and there hadn't been one survivor to date. He had to find those sons of bitches before they tried to kill Hotch or Reid. He was never going to give them that chance.

* * *

><p>Laura grabbed her husband by the hand, and pulled him out of his chair the second everyone else in their row started standing up. They had to get out there. She saw that agent eyeing her, and she wasn't about to risk him asking any stupid questions like if she saw their friends or not. Of course she would lie. She would lie right to that bastard's face, and probably smile pleasantly at him while doing so. She hated that man. Benjamin must have sensed that something was terribly wrong because he didn't say a single word until they were back in the truck.<p>

"What has gotten into you woman? They might have passed out crackers or somethin at the end. I wanted to stay!"

"That black guy was staring at us," Laura growled. She turned the heat on high in the truck and put her hands against the vent.

"Black guy cop?"

"Black guy federal agent you asshole!" Laura shouted. "You didn't see him starin at us?"

"How do you know he just wasn't admirin your pretty dress?"

Laura slapped him across the cheek. She couldn't believe that he was acting like such a fool. He looked back at her after the slap, but he didn't raise his hand to her. Instead, he put the truck in reverse and got them out of the parking lot. Laura got the pink sweater from the back seat, and buttoned it back on her. She wasn't going to risk someone recognizing it from that bitch teacher. She wanted to show it off, but she wasn't stupid. She would have to wait until later. Once people forgot about all this, she would start wearing the sweater to the supermarket. She couldn't wait.

"Oh honey, I wish you wouldn't get upset like this," Benjamin said once they were on the main road.

"I ain't upset. I just…that guy could have caught us. If he started askin us questions, what would we do? Mentally call the boys and tell them to kill them agents? When we drop off the woman, we gotta leave her in a new place. It can't be near the house."

"At least the weekend is here," Benjamin said. "The boys won't have school till Monday so we got that on our side. Want me to dump the body tonight or tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow. Daniel looked really happy when he took her into his room," Laura said. She didn't think she had ever seen her boy so happy, and that was a bit scary. He didn't become involved with the murders until recently, but he was learning fast.

"If he's having sex with a corpse Laura…I can't even think about that. Why the hell would he choose a dead chick over a live one?"

"I don't know if he is having sex with her," Laura said.

"Yeah, but probably," Benjamin argued. "Something is seriously messed with that kid, and I'm not lookin forward to taking away with his girlfriend."

"Maybe he will have changed his mind by the time we get back. We've been gone for about an hour, and he has those two agents that he could play with. I think he likes the younger one cuz he's smart."

"Maybe, but maybe not," Benjamin said.

They drove in silence for a few more minutes, but they finally got back home without any other arguments. Benjamin parked the truck in front of the house, and Laura gloried in the heat until her husband turned the vehicle off. She hated the winter. She really did, and from the looks of the sky overhead, it was probably going to start snowing that night.

* * *

><p>Joseph got bored quickly watching television. There wasn't anything good on at all, and the adult cartoons wouldn't be coming on until much later. He left the TV on, and went to go see what his brother was doing. There were many other ways to entertain himself than stupid shows. He just didn't want his brother ruining his fun. He peaked through a crack in their bedroom, but he didn't see his brother or the dead chick in there. That was weird. He has happy that dead woman was out of their room, but where the hell did they go? He was about to check the freezer when he heard sounds coming from down the hallway. He took off his shoes so he wouldn't make any noise, and he walked carefully to the last room. He didn't want to be heard, but if his brother was where he thought he was, Daniel was going to be in serious trouble. No one but Ma was allowed in that room.<p>

Joseph pushed the door open a little bit, and the first thing he saw was the teacher sitting in Ma's rocking chair. Blood was staining the chair and surrounding floor, and something told Joseph that those stains weren't going to come out. The skinny agent was sitting on the carpet next to the chair, and Daniel was sitting across from him. There were papers scattered on the floor around them, and Joseph guessed they were doing homework. Daniel has a fuckin federal agent in his custody, and he chooses to have the agent help him with school. There was no way in hell that these two were related.

"So I carry the two?" Daniel asked Reid. The young agent looked terribly uncomfortable which was slightly amusing, but Joseph wanted to do other things.

"Yes. The two will be used as the constant for the rest of the problem," Reid said. "This is actually very difficult Algebra. I'm surprised you're doing this as a junior."

"I'm taking honors," Daniel said.

"I don't think you need my help. You're doing just fine on your own."

"That's right!" Joseph said smiling. He was waiting for a break in the lame conversation. He wanted to get it on with Reid before their parents got home. He wanted to break the freakin agent since that morning when he met Mooorgan. Morgan with his fancy gun and his white teeth. He hated that jerk, and couldn't wait to make his friend bleed.

"You don't need his help. He ain't that smart anyway," Joseph said. He pushed the door open all the way and walked in his dead sister's bedroom. It smelled funny in there, but he blamed the smell on the decomposing corpse a few feet away from in. It was disgusting. Daniel closed the eyes, but the hell didn't he wipe off the blood?

"What do you want?" Daniel asked.

"I just want to have some fun with Mister Reid," Joseph answered. "Pa got to have him earlier, but now it's my turn."

"You can't have him yet. He's helping me with my homework," Daniel said. The kid looked away from Joseph and back at his math equations. What a dweeb.

"He already helped you, and he said it himself. You don't need no more help," Joseph said. "Does Ma know you're in here?"

"It doesn't matter," Daniel said.

"Oh, but it does little brother. Ma doesn't have many rules, but her number one rule is that no one goes in this room, and it kinda looks like you got it messy."

"I'll clean it up before they get back."

"I don't think you got much time. The meeting will probably only last an hour, and there's a lot of blood in here. I won't tell Ma you were in here if you let me have Reid while you clean up. Got it?"

Daniel looked up at Joseph, but he didn't look the same as a minute ago. His brother's eyes had turned black, and his lips were squeezed in between his teeth. He looked seriously sick, but that wasn't Joseph's problem. All Joseph wanted was Reid. His brother could deal with himself.

"We got a deal?" Joseph asked.

"Fine," Daniel finally answered.

"I won't go with you," Reid said quietly.

"Oh? You got somethin to say? Do ya?" Joseph asked. Joseph walked over to the agent, and towered over the skinny doctor. "Speak up. I can't hear ya!"

"I'm not going with you," Reid said again.

Joseph kicked Reid in the head, and while it didn't do much effect without his shoes on, Reid's head still swung to the side from the force. Joseph was aiming for the black eye, and while he was sure he didn't get the mark, it probably hurt all the same.

"I'd love to just stay here and watch Danny boy clean up the mess, but the dead chick is freakin me out a little bit," Joseph said glancing at her. Joseph still couldn't believe that his brother brought her in here. Joseph didn't like touching any of the victims after they were dead. There was something about the cold and lifeless corpse that scared the hell out of him.

"I'm not going with you," Reid said more firmly.

"Oh, you're not? Are ya? Just remember, doctor, I'm the one with the gun. It will only take one minute to grab the gun and shoot your friend's brains out in that damned freezer. Got it?"

"You won't do it. Your parents want us alive," Reid said.

"You don't think I'll do it? Want to risk it?" Joseph asked smiling. "My parents didn't want the teacher to die either and look what happened to her."

Joseph unhooked Reid from the ropes on the walls, and pulled the pretty boy to his feet. He stumbled, but he didn't fall. Daniel was already gathering up his papers, but Joseph was sure that he wouldn't be able to clean up all the blood before Ma got home.

"So you're comin with me?" Joseph asked Reid.

Reid didn't say anything, but he shook his head in agreement. He would never risk his friend's life. It was very noble, but very stupid. Joseph smiled with an open mouth, and pushed Reid down on Kate's lap. Reid immediately tried to get back to his feet, but his handcuffs got tangled with the dead woman's matted hair, and they both ended falling on the floor. Joseph laughed.

"Why did you do that?" Daniel shouted.

"Chill little bro," Joseph said still giggling. He pulled Reid back up, but left the dead girl on the floor. He wasn't going to touch her. That was gross.

Daniel abandoned the papers on the carpet, and crawled over to the dead teacher. He pulled her hair out of her face, and lifted her back up on the chair. It looked like a dead weight, and his little brother really struggled to put her back in place. Reid even looked concerned about how the teenager was acting. He looked like he was about to cry because the stiffening body wasn't really cooperating. He kissed Kate on the cheek, and Joseph didn't miss that his younger brother swiped one of his hands against the dead girl's breast. He looked away in disgust.

"Come on doctor guy," Joseph said walking behind Reid. "Let's get out of here." He shoved Reid forward, and both of them left Daniel alone with the dead chick and his homework.

Joseph shut the door behind them, but he wasn't sure which room he should take the agent to. He did Kate on the couch, while she was still alive, and his dad did Reid in the bathroom. That left the kitchen, his parents room, and the room he shared with his brother. That would have to do. There was a bed in there, and he wouldn't get his ass kicked by having sex on his parent's bed. The door was already open to his room, and Joseph worked on getting his shirt off.

"That one," Joseph said. "Get in there."

Reid looked in the direction of the freezer, but he followed orders and willingly went into the bedroom. Joseph got his shirt off, and threw it on his bed. He locked the door behind them. He got his pants off, and slung them over the chair by the desk. The room was disaster, but no one really cared.

"You're both going to get in trouble for going in that room," Reid said. "You're older than Daniel. You are supposed to be looking after him."

"You think you're so smart," Joseph snickered. "Get on the fuckin bed and keep your mouth shut!"

Joseph started to take his boxers off when Reid charged at him. Reid knocked him off of his feet, and Joseph landed with a loud thump on the chipped wood floor. Reid tried opening up the door, but he couldn't get it to budge because his hands were still handcuffed behind his back. It was impossible for him to open up a locked door. Joseph tried pushing himself back up, but Reid kicked him across the face as hard as he could. Joseph felt one of his teeth chip, and blood filled his mouth. Reid was over by the window by the time Joseph finally got up, and Reid tried jumping out of it, but Joseph grabbed Reid by his hair.

Joseph was stronger than Reid. He was sure that he weighed him, and he had been eating and drinking very well, unlike Reid. He pulled Reid away from the window, and kicked him onto the bed. Reid tried to get back up, but Joseph was on him before he got the chance. He punched Reid in his already black eye, and punched the doctor in the mouth to get him back for what Reid did to him. He didn't think he broke any teeth, but the doctor's mouth did fill with blood just like Joseph's did.

"You asshole!" Joseph shouted.

Joseph punched him again in his chest, where the bruising was not healing properly, and he pulled his boxers down to his ankles. He kicked them off in the floor, and punched Reid's bruise again and again. The asshole needed to pay for what he did to him. Joseph spit in his face, and turned the agent over to his stomach.

"Get off!" Reid cried out.

Reid bucked his hips, but Joseph had a good hold of the agent's hair. He forced Reid's legs open, and went to roughly massaging Reid's rear end. This was going to happen, and no one was going to stop him.

"If you do this, they are never going to let you out of prison. Do you know that? Never!" Reid continued crying out, but Joseph wasn't listening.

"By the time they find you pretty boy, you'll just be a rotting corpse in the middle of the forest," Joseph told him. "Rotting. Your body will be in worse shape than the teacher's is. I'll make sure of that myself."

Joseph took a deep breath, and rammed into the agent. Reid screamed. Joseph supposed he wasn't fully healed from his father's rape or because Joseph didn't take any time to find proper lubricant, but it wasn't really his problem. He pulled himself out to the tip, and slammed back into the agent again. He spotted some blood coming out of Reid's rear end, but he took his eyes away from that. Joseph didn't really like blood, and it wasn't really working good as a lubricant.

Reid was sobbing into the pillow, and Joseph tried to find some kind of rhythm but it was hard with the resistant body beneath him. He lifted Reid's head off the pillow, and punched him in the cheek. He was aiming for the eye, but he couldn't reach it with Reid continuing to move. Reid cried out from the violent punch, and Joseph went back to concentrating on his deep thrusts.

"You need to shut your mouth. Got it?" Joseph warned. "If you keep fighting me, I'm goin go kill your buddy right now. Want me to do that? Want me to?"

"No," Reid quietly said.

Reid rested his head back down, and Joseph noticed that while the body did not stop shaking, he did stop fighting. The idiot wasn't going to risk his little partner guy getting hurt. Joseph relished in that fact, and finally found his rhythm in the man beneath him.

* * *

><p>Daniel put the papers on the kitchen table, but he couldn't stop thinking about how his brother threw Kate and Reid around like that. It was terrible. His headache had come back in full swing, and no matter what Daniel did, it wouldn't go away. He ignored the cries coming from Agent Reid in the bedroom, and went to work at soaking up Kate's blood from the carpet. It wasn't easily coming up. He knew he shouldn't have gone in there. It was his mother's favorite room. He just thought it would be a good place to concentrate, but he was wrong.<p>

"Why does blood have to be so hard to get up?" he asked Kate.

She didn't answer. She wouldn't answer. He kept waiting for some sign that she made it to heaven, but her body was still. He prayed to God that He would send Daniel a sign that his teacher was safe, but he knew those things never happened instantly. Her spirit had to get settled in before she started sending him signs. Daniel would wait.

"It's alright. Your blood smells just as pretty as you look. You'll always be pretty Miss Parker," he said bashfully.

Once again, she said nothing in return. He put the bloody rags on the floor, and lifted one of his hands up to his aching head. Why wouldn't it stop? Was it because his brother took Reid? His head wasn't hurting at all when he was talking to Reid. The annoying circle even went away when they were doing homework. He had to get Reid back. They would be able to clean up the blood together.

He spotted the crowbar that took Miss Parker's life in the corner of the room, but he couldn't use that on his brother. He loved his brother. He took a small footstool he found in the closet, and followed the loud moans coming from the room he shared with his brother. Joseph was on top of the young agent, and from the looks of it, he was almost done. There was blood all of the agent's thighs though, and the bed they were on didn't belong to Joseph. His older brother let out a content sigh, and Daniel took this as a sign from God that it was okay to come inside. He was standing beside the bed before his brother opened his eyes.

Daniel lifted the colorful footstool high in the air, and slammed it on the side of his brother's head. Joseph opened his mouth in shock, and fell off the bed. Daniel kicked him to make sure he was unconscious, and then looked over at Reid. The agent rolled over to his side, and saw his rapist lying on the floor.

"Do you want to help me finish my homework now?" Daniel asked.

_now wasnt that a fun and violent chapter every1? i watched the last saw movie again and it inspired me 2 write more so every1 thank that movie! lol. plz review! another reason i got this chapter up quickly was cuz people kept asking me 2 in reviews and letters so i thank u all! until next time! xoxo_


	17. Chapter 17

_sorry 4 the long delay. my excuse? i was reading? lol. i just finished the dead zone the other day and then i was getting into the final destination series again which is a great inspiration. other than the fact i cannot use any of the deaths as ideas becuz my southern family here is poor and uncreative lol. fun chapter here but i believe the next chapter will be one of the angsty ones ive written n a long time so me lookies forward 2 that. this chapter has lots of language. as usual. some blood. some sadness. some daniel. and some more blood. and sadness_

Benjamin knew something was wrong the second he opened up the front door. The television was blaring, but his oldest son wasn't sitting in front of it. He couldn't hear any screams coming from the bedrooms, and Daniel wasn't wandering around without a care in the world. Something was definitely wrong. He threw his jacket on the floor, but kept his boots on. It was too cold to be walking around that house in his socks.

"What's wrong honey buns?" Laura asked. She shut and locked the door behind them. She didn't bother picking up his jacket though. She went straight to the kitchen.

"I don't know," Benjamin said. "Joseph? Daniel? We're home!" he called out.

He didn't hear anything so he immediately went to check the freezer. If something happened to those agents, he would kill the boys himself. He opened it wide, and just found one of the agents sitting there, but it was freezing. The agent had his long legs up to his chest, and his head was resting on his knees. He looked a lot paler than Benjamin imagined.

"What the hell happened in here?" Benjamin asked walking in.

"Cold," the agent whispered.

"Guess Daniel got the cold thing working," Laura commented looking at the thermostat.

"Could you please turn it up?" Hotch asked.

Benjamin could see his breath after only standing in there a few moments. It was colder than hell in there. The agent wasn't lying about how cold it was, and he probably was going to get sick if he was left in the freezer much longer, but Benjamin would deal with that later. He needed to find his boys first.

"Please turn it back up!" Hotch shouted when he realized Benjamin was turning around.

"You're not the boss of me," Benjamin said with a smile. He pushed Laura out of the doorway, and slammed it behind him. He could still hear Hotch shouting, but he would deal with that later. If the idiot froze to death that would be one last problem he would have to think about. He would leave the body in the woods, and the cops would think he just got lost and froze during the storm.

"Joseph?" Benjamin called out again, but there was still no answer. He was getting worried.

"Maybe they just took the skinny one outside to the barn to play with him," Laura suggested. He wished she would get back to the kitchen. She really wasn't being much of a help.

"Joseph and Daniel don't play together. You of all people should know that," Benjamin said. He paused at their bedroom door, and after hearing nothing but silence coming from the room, he pushed it open. He just wanted to make sure that he wasn't disturbing one of his boys in a personal act, but it was too quiet in there for anything to be going on.

"Oh my Lord," Laura mumbled before Benjamin could take in the image in front of him.

Joseph was on the floor of the bedroom completely naked. A thin trail of blood was on the side of his head, but he looked like he was still alive. Laura ran into the room, and fell on her knees to check on her boy. She put his head in her lap, and felt his wrist for a pulse. Benjamin could only stand dumbfounded in the doorway. Who the hell did this? If Joseph was naked, that meant he was only doing one thing. Did something go wrong? Did the fucking skinny agent get away?

"He's alive," Laura said quietly. She was rubbing the side of his head gently, and she pulled one of the blankets off the bed to cover him up.

"Daniel?" Benjamin yelled out. "Get out here boy!"

He didn't expect Daniel to come sulking out from wherever he was, but he turned out to the hallway, and there was his youngest son. Daniel was standing in front of the nursery room with his hands behind his back. He was fully clothed, but he was sweating. It was startling how calm the kid looked, and Benjamin had to think back to remember why he wanted Daniel in the first place.

"What happened to your brother?" Benjamin asked.

"He didn't want to share Agent Reid so I made him," Daniel said simply.

"You made him?" Benjamin asked. His youngest boy did this? "Where's the agent?"

Laura got up to watch the confrontation in the hallway after putting Joseph in his bed. She stood behind her husband until she found out what room Daniel was standing in front of. Benjamin made no move to stop his wife. Her hair bounced as she jolted down the hallway, and she shoved her son out of the way. Daniel stumbled, but he didn't fall. When she got into the nursery, she screamed which finally got Benjamin moving.

He looked in the room, and he felt what his wife was feeling. There was blood all over the carpet that she worked so hard to keep clean through the years. The dead teacher was lying near the rocking chair with her legs spread, and the ghost-like agent was cowering in a corner near the pink cradle. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened.

"Laura, get out of here," Benjamin told his hysterical wife.

"My baby's room!" she screamed. "My Lord, my baby's room!"

"Get out!" he yelled. He raised his hands as if to hit her, and that's when she left. She didn't look back. He was never going to really hurt her. He knew that he didn't really have many rules in his life, but he was never going to hit his wife.

"I have a really bad headache," Daniel said in a voice close to the whisper. His boy was standing in the doorway with his palm over his head.

"We need to clean this up now or your mother is goin go ballistic," Benjamin said. He didn't even know where to begin. There was no way in hell that all of this blood came from a dead woman. He couldn't wait to dump her body.

"I'm sorry Pa. We were just finishin up my homework," Daniel said.

"Get the woman's body. Put her back in the freezer," Benjamin said. He didn't really want to touch her.

"Her name is Kate," Daniel said. He went into the room, and he put Kate's legs together. Using a remarkable strength, Daniel pulled Kate up and got her in his arms. Benjamin got out of the way when Daniel got close to the door.

"Just put her where she used to be. It will slow down the decaying now that you turned the cold air back on," Benjamin told him.

"Okay Pa," Daniel answered.

Benjamin watched his youngest son walk towards the freezer, and then he turned back to the once beautiful nursery for a daughter that never was. The agent was still trying to hide behind the cradle. Benjamin sighed. He was still tied up. Who was the kid trying to fool?

"Come on out from behind there," Benjamin said spotting the rags on the floor.

Reid crawled out, but he didn't come any closer to Benjamin. He sat on his knees by the rocking chair. His hair was a tangled mess, and his black eye looked worse than before. The agents weren't going to last much longer, and he was already wanting another woman to replace Miss Parker. As fun as it was doing men, he still preferred women in the long run.

"You're goin help me clean boy," Benjamin said. He tossed the bloody rag over to Reid. "I'm just goin supervise while you get this carpet lookin like new."

"The blood won't come off with this," Reid stated.

"It better," Benjamin growled.

Benjamin released Reid from the rope holding him in place, and pulled the rocker to block the door. The kid wasn't going to pull any funny moves with him. He sat down on the chair, and pulled off his belt. Reid eyed the belt, and crawled out from the corner. He went to work scrubbing the floor with the old rag, and just as he predicted, the blood stains weren't coming out. Reid's body was trembling. Benjamin didn't know if it was from the cold or if it was from nerves, but Reid started working harder.

"So how many girls you got on your team?" Benjamin asked with a grin.

* * *

><p>Hotch didn't think he had ever been this cold in his entire life. His jaw was chattering, and he kept having to move his toes around just to keep them from turning blue. He didn't know how low the temperature was, but if they didn't turn it up soon, he'd turn into an icicle. He was more worried about Reid though. He didn't know how long the younger man had been gone, but it seemed like more than a few hours. A million thoughts were racing through his mind about what could have happened. Reid might have escaped somehow. It didn't seem likely, but both of the parents were gone and Reid was able to run if he had to. Hotch's thoughts were only confirmed when the father finally came in the freezer, and saw that Reid wasn't with him.<p>

Reid had to have escaped, and if that really did happen, help was on the way. Hotch would personally make sure that Benjamin and his family of nut jobs never saw the light of the day again. Hotch still held tight to the pair of scissors that he was able to grab when Kate almost go away. He didn't know if he would ever need to use the scissors, but they were there. Keeping them hidden was the hard thing. There wasn't a place to stick them in the freezer, and he wouldn't be able to keep them behind his back for long if someone took him out into the other rooms.

All of Hotch's thoughts were interrupted when the freezer door opened. Hotch held his breath, half expecting to see Reid being forced in, and the first thing he saw was a dangling hand. A moment of fear seized through him, but it only lasted a second. The hand did not belong to Reid, but to a woman. He looked up, and saw Daniel carrying the teacher into the room. Half of her face was covered in blood, and that was enough to make Hotch feel those damned hotdogs coming back up his throat. He managed to keep them down, but he didn't plan on seeing Kate Parker again.

"You don't look too well," Daniel commented.

He put her body on the floor, and put Kate's hair behind her ears.

"What are you doing with her?" Hotch managed to ask.

"Pa wanted me to put her in here," Daniel said. "He said it would keep her from decaying too quickly. Isn't it a shame that people decay after they die?"

"I am sure that her family would love to have her back," Hotch said.

"She lived alone," Daniel said. He placed her body on the wall that she was chained to when she was still alive.

"She has parents," Hotch said. He didn't want her in the freezer with him. He wouldn't be able to stand it. She had to get out of there.

"Isn't she pretty?"

"She needs to go back home Daniel," Hotch said slowly. He didn't talk slowly on purpose. He just needed to understand that she needed to be buried, and out of the damned freezer.

"She is home. She's with her doggy in heaven," Daniel said. "She's going to send me a sign soon that she's alright."

"It's really cold in here," Hotch started. Somebody had to turn the heat back up. He couldn't remember the exact process of what happened when a body was freezing to death, but he was sure he was somewhere in the beginning stages.

"Not really," Daniel said. He was positioning Kate's body with extreme care which reminded Hotch of how some older ladies were with their precious porcelain dolls.

"How are your headaches?" Hotch asked choosing another route. He had to get through to this boy somehow. If the only way was to talk about something the boy didn't want to talk about, so be it. He wasn't going to freeze to death in the middle of nowhere.

"Who told you about those?" Daniel asked quickly. He turned away from Kate, and stood up in front of Hotch.

"I guessed," Hotch said. "You keep holding your head with your hands. What's wrong?"

"It's none of you business," Daniel said.

"Did you tell Miss Parker?"

Daniel had to have been close to the teacher. Despite the fact that he brutally murdered her, he was developing a nasty habit of taking care of her body. Daniel glanced at her, but then he looked back at Hotch with a strange look in his eyes. Hotch didn't like the look, and he'd rather face the pain that came with freezing than talk to Daniel anymore.

"No," Daniel said. "She didn't need to know, and neither do you."

"But I might be able to help. Don't you want the headaches to go away?" Hotch asked.

"You can't help me. You're going to die soon," Daniel said looking back over at Kate.

"I'm not going to die," Hotch said as steady as he could.

"You're going to die. Everyone will die," Daniel said. He sat down back by Kate, and picked up one of her hands.

"I meant I wasn't going to die anytime soon. I have a son. I have to get home to him," Hotch said. "And Reid's parents are probably terribly worried about him."

"He's okay. He's with Pa now. I think they are cleaning up the nursery, but you are going to die soon. You're going to end up looking just like her, without the boobs," Daniel said.

"You might die soon too if you don't get those headaches checked out by a professional," Hotch replied.

* * *

><p>Laura managed to keep herself under control for the time being, but it was hard. She was ready to kill that bastard agent who was in the nursery with her son. It had to be his blood all over her beautiful carpet. Dead people couldn't bleed anymore. It wasn't physically possible, and if it was his blood, he needed to die for wrecking up her room. She worked so hard on it. Even after she suffered from the miscarriage, she kept up the pink nursery in case she ever got pregnant again. She never did, and it soon became simply a habit to keep the room in prime condition. Her husband never questioned her motives, and her sons usually helped without complaint, but now, it was all over. Her hard work was all for nothing. She didn't go to school for long, but she knew that blood wasn't going to come up unless they hired some special cleaning company, and that wasn't going to happen.<p>

She sat on the bed next to Joseph. He wasn't hurt as badly as she originally thought, and he was going to wake up soon enough without seeing any doctors. She kept him under the covers to keep the cold from getting him, and she massaged his poor head with her hands. She would die herself before she let anything happen to her boy. Joseph was her first born, and would always hold a special place in her heart. It didn't matter if he strayed sometimes. He was just like the prodigal son, and she would always be there to welcome her boy back home. She couldn't wait before he got married and had babies of his own. She knew that he was just in high school, but he was very handsome and was already attracting several ladies. He would have a date for the prom that year, and if everything worked out, they would fall in love. College probably wasn't in his future, but nobody in their family ever went to school for long. Her own mother never saw the first day of high school, and her daddy didn't last past his sophomore year.

She was lost in her own thoughts when her baby boy finally starting moving. He moaned, and turned his head to one side. She picked up one of his hands, and remembered when she first held them almost two decades ago. She was crying when her first son was born. They were tears of happiness, and she couldn't remember another time when she felt so happy. Daniel's birth was more of a disappointment. She always dreamed about having a perfect family with a boy, a girl, and a white picket fence. Her dream started dying when Daniel was born, and when she miscarried her little girl, her dream died. She stopped trying after that. It wasn't worth it, but she was going to watch out for her boys. Their lives were going to better than hers was.

"Ma?" a small voice asked. "God, what happened?" Joseph pulled himself up, and pulled his hand away from hers.

"Are you alright?" Laura asked snapping out of her memories. Her son was more important than what happened years ago.

"I'm fine," he mumbled. "What the hell happened to me?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Laura asked gently.

"Um, I think I was on the bed with the skinny agent. The dork. We weren't on my bed. I didn't want to get it dirty so we were on Daniel's bed. I think we were almost done or done or…Crap! Did Daniel hit me with something? I kind of remember him coming in. That little shithead!"

Joseph moved to get out of bed, but she held him in the place. The last thing they needed was violence among their family members. She would be the first person to admit that her younger son was different. She never tried to bond with him when he was little. During that time, she was still trying to get herself pregnant again with a girl, and Daniel was thrown to the side. She knew that she wasn't the best mother in the world, but she was far from the worst. Both of the boys were turning into fine young men.

"Don't you try to hurt him!" she warned. "He's your little brother. When me and your Pa are gone, he's all you got. You have to stick together."

"You see the mess he made in the nursery?" Joseph asked.

"I think the dork made the bloody mess," Laura said. "They are all cleaning it up now. We're going to get rid of the woman's body tomorrow, and them agents are probably goin die this weekend sometime. I'll let you pick out the new girl though. Does that sound good?"

"Yes Ma," Joseph said. "I barely got any time at all with the teacher. Daniel's crazy. You know that? Did you see that look in his eyes when he killed him? It looked like somethin from a horror movie!"

"He's goin be okay. How's your head feelin?"

"Just got a little headache. It'll go away." Joseph swung his legs off the bed, and bent over to find his boxer shorts.

"Daniel figured out how to work the temperature thingy in the freezer, and now it's cold enough to snow in there. I'm thinkin we just leave him in there. I don't know what your Pa is planning, but I don't want to be cleanin up any more blood. He can freeze to death, and I think the younger guy is probably goin just die on his own. He's not lookin too good no more."

"Isn't Pa going to have more fun with them?"

"I'm sure he will, but don't you like the idea of keeping them separated?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

Laura knew that whenever she separated people that were kidnapped together, they went downhill fast. Most of the people were killed their first night, but when her husband first started doing this, a few of them did stay for days. Her husband was stronger back then, but the people broke fast when they thought their friend was dead. She didn't know if it would work for the agents, but they were human too.

"I'm goin get dressed Ma. I don't need you in here," Joseph said.

"Don't move too fast. Might make you dizzy enough to fall over. I'm goin get you a cup of soda. Come out when you're ready," she said. She kissed him on the forehead, and left him alone with the discarded clothing on the floor. She really couldn't wait until the agents were dead. They were causing more problems than their lives were worth.

* * *

><p>Morgan was exhausted and disgusted. It was late, and after searching the area around the town hall for over an hour, they came up with nothing. There was no body, and while that was a relief, he was angry for losing an opportunity to talk to the couple. Their faces were already fading from his memory, but he would be able to recognize them again if he saw them. He was getting ready to tell the sheriff to gather every single married couple that had a son back in the town hall. Too much time had gone by already. It was a miracle that not a single body had been found in the days his friends had been missing. That seemed to soothe the other members on the team, but it didn't put any rest to Morgan's mind. Just because they couldn't find any bodies didn't mean that there weren't any. The unsubs were going against their profile by keeping their victims alive for this long. It didn't make any sense.<p>

"Are you okay Morgan?" Prentiss asked.

They gathered back in the hotel to rest up. This was taking a lot out of them, and Morgan blamed himself every single time he saw Prentiss' arm in a sling. The cast didn't last long. It didn't suit her, and the sling was easier to work with. He made sure that she didn't move it around, but she shouldn't have had to wear it. It was all his fault. He was stupid enough to let her go off with Reid and Hotch even though he knew the unsubs were after them. Prentiss couldn't hold off the unsubs by herself. That wasn't possible. Morgan should have been there instead. None of this would have happened. Hotch and Reid might die. They might not ever come back, and Morgan would be the one to tell their families what happened. Morgan let them down, and it was killing him inside. He had to rescue Hotch and Reid. There wasn't any other way around it.

"Yeah. How is your arm?"

"It's doing better," Prentiss said. "We're going to find them. Don't go on yourself like this."

"Where are they?" Morgan asked her. He got off the couch, and walked over to the window. It was black outside, but the harsh wind assured him that it was colder than it was earlier. Snow was just starting to fall, and the night looked peaceful, but it wasn't. His friends were out there somewhere. They were out there, and they were waiting for rescue.

"We can't do anything else tonight. Garcia is still going through names, and the sheriff has extra officers on duty. If they see anything suspicious, we are the first people they are going to call."

"The unsubs usually kill the victims at night," Morgan said slowly. "We find the bodies in the morning because they kill them at night."

"I know they are still alive," Prentiss said. "I know they are. Blaming yourself isn't helping anyone."

He turned around, and looked her in the eye. She looked just as worried as Morgan did, but she was holding herself strong. Morgan respected her for that. She reached out for his hand, and squeezed it in hers. Morgan felt like crying. He wanted to burst into tears, and have someone else come and tell him that everything was going to be better, but he couldn't do that. He wasn't a little boy anymore. He was the person who had to make everything better again. He squeezed Prentiss's hand back, and she smiled at him.

Their silence was broken with Rossi coming in the conference room. He was holding a box of pizza over his shoulder, and J.J. was right behind him holding plates. Nobody was hungry that night. How could they possibly be hungry when two of their friends were missing? Eating hadn't occurred to any of them until Rossi brought it up. It was already after midnight, and none of them could remember the last time they had a meal. Morgan's stomach flipped at the thought of eating, but he didn't say anything. Prentiss broke their connection, and moved away from the window. Morgan looked back outside, but there wasn't anything to see out there.

"Sorry it took so long," Rossi said. He put the pizza on the table in the center of the room. "There weren't any pizza places open, and the snow closed down the other restaurants that were open. The manager saw us come back empty handed, and offered to let us use the kitchen so this pizza was personally made by your truly."

"Did you guys find out anything?" J.J. asked. She sat down, and took a slice of pizza from the box. She put it on the plate in front of her, but she didn't touch it.

"No," Prentiss said. She sat down across from J.J., but she didn't grab any of the pizza. "Garcia is still running names. I think she's going through Miss Parker's class again."

"I still think that makes the most sense too," Rossi said. He sat at the head of the table, and took the biggest slice of pizza. He was the only one of the group that actually took a bite. "There were other younger teachers working at the school. Parker was the youngest, but there were others also in their 20s. What made her stand out?"

"There's a father," Morgan said turning around. "A father who used to do this and then stopped because his kids were born or he was injured. There is a mother. She helps lure the victims, and she probably has some kind of role with dropping off the bodies. She might actually be the one who skins them…"

"And then there's the son," Rossi said.

"What if there are two kids? Two boys or a boy and a girl?" Prentiss asked.

"If it was a girl," J.J. started. "Parker wasn't scared to see her in the house. Parker probably felt more relaxed with a girl. There wasn't any rush because she didn't feel in danger."

"Or it was a smaller boy," Morgan said.

"I'm calling Garcia," J.J. announced. She pushed herself out of the chair, and pulled her phone out of her pocket. "I'll have her look up siblings with both parents still living together. That's going to narrow down any list she has."

"She needs to come down here anyway," Rossi commented. "The pizza is getting cold, and none of you are eating."

Prentiss finally took a slice and took a small bite. Morgan still wasn't in the mood for eating, but he sat down next to Prentiss. He put some pizza on his plate, but he couldn't bring himself to eat. He would wait for Garcia to get there. He knew he wouldn't be hungry then either, but he couldn't help how his stomach felt. How could he even be thinking about food while Hotch and Reid were locked up someplace? Were they hurt? He knew they were scared, and he just felt physically sick whenever he reminded himself that every single victim they found up to date was sexually assaulted. His friends weren't going to be any different. Hotch was wounded in the car accident, and Reid didn't have much muscle to begin with. How could they defend themselves?

"Morgan," Rossi said gently. "You won't be able to kick much butt when you find the unsubs if you have no food in your system."

Morgan smiled at him, and took a big bite. The pizza tasted like heaven in his mouth, and he savored it for a few seconds before swallowing. His stomach didn't threaten to throw the food up, and so he took a second bite. Rossi really did have magical fingers when it came to food.

"It's good," Morgan said.

"I know it. I made it," Rossi said smiling.

Prentiss still wasn't eating, but she was never much of a big eater. Morgan finished off his first slice in less than a minute, and was on to the second by the time J.J. got off the phone. He was hungrier than he thought, but he wouldn't be able to sleep that night. As tired as he was, he couldn't sleep while his friends were still missing. He was getting closer though. He could feel it. He was going to find those sons of bitches that took Morgan and Reid, and he would make them pay. He was going to make them wish they were never born.

* * *

><p>Reid was scared. He was tired and he was scared. Benjamin didn't look happy as he sat rocking in the chair, and none of the blood was coming up. Reid was rubbing as hard as he could, but he couldn't get a single drop up. How long was the man going to allow him to keep trying? It was miserable being forced to clean up an old carpet, and it was worse still because he didn't have any clothes on and it was freezing. He was grateful that Kate wasn't watching him anymore, but he would never be able to get the image of what Daniel did to her body out of his mind. If had any food in his belly, he wouldn't be able to stop puking. Benjamin never asked him what happened, and Reid never volunteered the information. Both of them already knew.<p>

"You suck at cleaning boy," Benjamin commented.

"Blood doesn't come up easy," Reid said. He never looked up. He feared that making any kind of eye contact with this man would only make things worse.

"Thought you was a doctor."

"I'm not a medical doctor," Reid said patiently. "And most doctors don't go around to cleaning up blood off floors."

"Don't be a smart alec boy!" Benjamin shouted.

He got off the chair, and before Reid could move his legs to get away, Benjamin kicked Reid in the ribcage. Reid grunted, but he didn't cry out. He wasn't going to give the alcoholic any pleasure in his suffering. The kick sent sharp pains all over his body, and Reid wished he had kicked anywhere but that bruise. He was reminded of what happened with Kate's bruise, but he couldn't think about that. Her bruise was on another part of her body. The kicks weren't directed towards his liver, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

"How do you feel now you asshole?" Benjamin asked.

"I don't think I'll be able to get the blood up," Reid answered. He sat down on his legs, but didn't look up at Benjamin.

"You ain't spendin the night with your friend in that freezer," Benjamin said. "You's goin sleep with me tonight!"

Reid's body was trembling with fright that he couldn't control. He couldn't remember how long he had even been in this trap. What day was the car accident? His head was aching, probably a similar pain to the one that Daniel went through daily, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get himself warm. He was a profiler, and he should know how to deal with a situation like this, but it was hard to concentrate on much other than the firey pain coming from his rear end. He was getting sick, and if something didn't change soon, he was going to end up just like Kate. He would die, and that would be it.

"What about your wife? Don't you sleep with her anymore?" Reid asked.

"I's goin sleep with you tonight boy," he said getting out of his chair.

Reid scooted back, but Benjamin didn't walk over to him. Reid looked at the rocking chair blocking the door, and back over at the older man who was wandering to the closet. Reid wouldn't be able to get to his feet, get the chair out of the way, and open the door before Benjamin grabbed him. Reid was the only one who was able to run anymore, but he couldn't run anywhere now with Benjamin so close. Hotch had a broken leg, and Kate was gone. Reid had to rely on himself, but he wasn't going to do something stupid enough to get himself killed. He had to wait.

"I'm really tired," Reid said.

The chair in front of him was beckoning for him. It wanted him to rest his tired body on it, and he probably would have considered sitting in it if Kate wasn't there only an hour before. It was made of white wood that looked smooth to the touch, and pink cushioned pillows were decorated on the seat and back of the chair. Life would have changed drastically for this family if that little girl wasn't lost in womb. The family might never as started the murders. They would have no need to. Laura would have the girl she always wanted, and she'd be on Benjamin's back more about getting work. He would have something else to work for.

"You don't need to sleep," Benjamin said.

"Lack of sleep could kill a person. A group of scientists did an experiment with lab animals, and the animals all died after being denied sleep for a long period of time," Reid said without thinking about it much.

"Really?" Benjamin asked. He suddenly turned around, and was looking at Reid.

"I don't know," Reid said quickly.

Benjamin nodded, but he didn't look convinced. He turned back to the closet when the door opened from the hallway. Laura pulled the door open, and pushed the rocking chair aside. She lost the color in her face when she saw all of the red stains on the pretty carpet, but she managed to look past it. She shut the door behind her, and spotted Reid on the floor. He looked away from her, and went back to scrubbing with the old rag.

"So what's the plan sweet cheeks?" she asked her husband.

Laura picked up the chair with surprising strength, and moved it back to the corner where it belonged. She never took her eyes off of Reid though. Reid pretended not to notice.

"What plan?" Benjamin asked. He pulled the bloody crowbar out of the closet and put it down next to him. No one told Reid, but he knew that was the weapon that killed Kate.

"What are we going to do about the skinny dork and his handsome friend?" Laura asked. "After he gets my room cleaned up, we are goin have to do somethin with them. They weren't supposed to be alive this long."

"I didn't think it was my idea to keep them in that freezer," Benjamin said. "They would have all been dead that first night if it was up to me."

"We're still droppin the woman off tomorrow night," Laura said. "I was thinkin the town meeting hall where we all met would be perfect. Might even scare them FBI. They're goin know that they ain't messin with kids. We's professionals."

"When they find her body, they're going to work harder to find us," Reid said under his breath.

"Yeah, and he told me earlier that there were women on his team. I sort of remember them, but not really. He wouldn't tell me how many, but I remember a little blonde who was pretty hot."

"No more agents," Laura said firmly. "Two is more than enough. Do you want to get yourself arrested and butt raped in prison? That's what they do there you know. Butt rape."

Reid would have rather been brutally murdered than risk Prentiss or J.J. getting hurt. Garcia was probably safe somewhere in a police station, but Prentiss and J.J. were walking around. He wasn't going to let Benjamin get anywhere near them. He refused to say a single word when the fat drunk was asking him. It ended with some violent kicks to Reid's back and thighs, but he would do it again if that meant protecting Prentiss and J.J.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Benjamin said. "How is Joseph? He wake up?"

He shut the closet, and walked over to his wife still holding the crowbar. Reid scrubbed the carpet harder than ever. It was taking up what little energy he had, but he didn't want to get beaten with the crowbar. He wouldn't be able to handle it any better than Kate did.

"Yeah, he's fine. He said that Daniel did, but it was all over this piece of shit," Laura said.

She walked away from the rocker, and went up to Reid. She pulled his head up by his hair, and spit on his face. Reid was grateful he had his eyes closed, but his heart was pounding. Were they going to kill him? Was he going to die in the dead baby's nursery? She released his hair, and he fell on the carpet.

"He was just telling me that someone could die from not sleeping," Benjamin said.

"And the freezer is still cold enough to build a snowman," Laura said.

"We can take turns keeping the Hotch guy awake tonight," Benjamin said. "That along with the freakin cold air is goin kill him. After we get rid of his body, we can start lookin for new girls."

"What about this little asshole?" Laura said. She was still hovering over him, and that scared Reid.

"Well, we're going to need to keep him around until you get the girls you want, right? He's pretty enough to be a girl, and all of you guys seem to like him. As long as he doesn't get sick, I vote we keep him alive," Laura said. "I'm not feeding him though. He didn't have that much money in his pockets, and food ain't cheap."

"You're goin starve him to death?"

Neither one of them were near the door anymore, and Reid didn't notice anyone lock it. When Laura turned her back, Reid scooted himself towards it. It would be impossible for him to get out of there, but he might be able to find some kind of weapon to defend himself with. There was nothing on the floor as far as he could see. There was a teddy bear sitting near the baby's dresser, and there was a box underneath the cradle, but he wasn't close to that. He was sure there might be something useful in the closet, but he couldn't get to that either.

"Where do you think you're goin?" Laura asked.

Reid wasn't paying attention. If he could get to the closet, all he needed was one object. He was even thinking about using the teddy bear as a weapon, but that wouldn't last him longer than a minute, but he needed something. He changed his direction towards the closet when something slammed into the side of his head. He fell on his chest, and the air was pushed out of his lungs.

"I asked you where you was goin!" Laura shouted.

Reid turned around and saw Laura standing over him. The source of her weapon was a pair of heels that Reid didn't notice her wearing before. His head was aching, and he felt warm blood gather underneath his hair where he had been kicked.

"I was going to try and get the blood up near the closet," Reid lied. There were a few spots over there, but nothing noticeable unless you were lying on the floor.

She kicked him again on the head, and the pain was unbearable. Her heel struck the back of his head, and he fell face first on the carpet. He tried to keep consciousness, but he was losing it fast. The room was spinning, and the voices around him were blurring. He wanted to stay awake. He needed to know what they were planning so he could fight against it, but he could barely keep his breath.

"I don't care how he dies," Laura said in a voice that sounded far away. "I ain't feeding him no more, and I don't think it's a good idea for him to see the other fellow anymore."

"You want to keep them separated?"

"Yeah, I think it's for the best. They don't need to be talking no more. They are both too smart for their own good."

"Well, I think they should have one memorable last meeting," Benjamin said. "Tomorrow night. Before we drop the body off. I think we's goin have fun."

"What kind of fun?" Laura asked.

Reid struggled to stay awake. He fought everything inside of him that was surrendering to the darkness, but he couldn't fight anymore. The pain faded away, and the voices around him disappeared completely. He managed to move his head to the side so he wasn't breathing in the dirty fumes from the carpet, but he was gone before he comprehended what he was doing.

* * *

><p>Daniel's headaches were killing him. They weren't getting any better, and that annoying little dot was back in front of his left eye. The circle wouldn't be that bad if the headaches would go away, but they weren't. Miss Parker couldn't help him, and he knew that Reid wasn't going to help him. He puked in the hallway after he got Reid away from his brother, and that was odd because he couldn't remember eating anything. He wasn't hungry anymore. He made the doctor clean up the mess, and that's when he finally showed his feelings to Miss Parker. He didn't care if Reid was watching or not. He loved his teacher.<p>

"You might die soon too if you don't get those headaches checked out by a professional," Hotch said.

"Migraines is all they are," Daniel said firmly.

"They aren't and you know it," Hotch said.

Daniel stood up, and was planning on making Hotch shut up. It wasn't any of his business. If he really wanted to go home to his kid, he needed to shut his mouth. It was harder than usual to stand on his feet. His legs kept swaying back and forth, and the room spun around like those stupid globes that teachers kept in the classroom. He leaned on the wall behind him so he wouldn't fall over, but Hotch was right. These weren't just migraine headaches.

"You need to go to a doctor. Tell your mom. That's what Miss Parker would want you to do," Hotch said. He was shivering.

Daniel pushed himself off the wall, and found it harder than ever to steady himself. He tried taking a step, and he fell to the floor. Hotch didn't say anything as he got himself back up. Daniel really wanted to go outside and sit down. It was snowing outside, and he always loved to see the first snow of the season. It was beautiful, and it usually calmed him down. It might even help his headache, but he needed Hotch to stop talking. He had no right to even mention Miss Parker's name. He needed to die.

"No hospital," Daniel said.

"So you want your brother to be able to stay here with us? You're getting sicker Daniel. We both know that."

Daniel tried not to focus on the little dot in front of his eye. He heard the sound of his own deep breathing, and watched how the agent became more nervous with Daniel's staring. This was just a man in front of him. It wasn't some superhero that could only be destroyed with magic, and he wasn't an angel sent from the heavens asking him to change his ways. This was just a man with blood and flesh just like Daniel. He would die long before Daniel did. He wished he had his crowbar, but his own legs would do just fine for now.

He walked up to the agent, and buried his boot deep in the agent's side. The agent didn't cry out, but Daniel didn't stop. He kicked him again and again and again. His headache was softening, but he wasn't going to stop. He wasn't going to stop until the annoying dot was gone, and the agent needed to learn his lesson. He needed to stop talking about things he didn't know anything about. He aimed his foot for the agent's pale side, and after just a few deep kicks, a bruise was starting to form.

"You need to shut your mouth! Shut that fucking hole in your face you ass!" Daniel shouted. Tears were streaming down his face, and another dizzy spell was coming over him, but he wasn't going to stop. Not now.

"Please stop!" Hotch yelled, but Daniel ignored him.

Daniel kicked him as hard as he could in the stomach when something changed in the agent's face. He didn't notice before how the agent was sitting, but now he could clearly see that something was behind the pale man's back. Daniel didn't have time to stop. Hotch lunged at him, and that's when Daniel saw a dirty pair of scissors in the agent's hand. Hotch pulled Daniel to the freezing floor, and plunged the scissors deep in Daniel's arm. He ripped the scissors back out before Daniel had time to scream. Hotch repeated the motion once more, but by that time, Daniel was screaming. He had never been in that much pain his entire life. Blood was dripping out of his thin arm, and the headache was back full blown.

Hotch punched Daniel in the cheek, and tried moving over to the freezer door. Daniel didn't care at that point. Both of his hands were over his head to control the massive headache, and his legs were pulled up to his chest. He was screaming for his mother, but he didn't recognize his own words. Why wasn't the headache stopping? Why? Did God hate him?

"Mommy!" he shouted out. "Mommy!"

The agent was bleeding badly where he was kicked, and he was having a harder time getting to his feet than Daniel did. Most of the paper towels had fallen off his bloody leg, and his broken leg was swelling. He was a mess. He never got to his feet though. As hard as he tried, he never got his feet. Daniel's father opened the freezer door just as Hotch was pulling himself up with help from the wall. Daniel didn't care about his dad. Benjamin could burn in hell for all he cared. He just wanted his mother.

"What the fuck?" Benjamin asked.

Daniel imagined that it was quite a sight to see. The youngest child in the family was in a fetal position crying his heart out while a half-naked man with no working legs was trying to open a door. Daniel's mother came in right behind Benjamin, and she fell to the floor by Daniel. Daniel wrapped his arms around his mother, and just cried. He didn't see what his father was doing to the damned agent, but it didn't matter. All that mattered now was that his mother was there, and she wasn't going to let anything else happen to him.

_ta-da for chapter 17! hopefully ill get the next chapter up sooner so we'll see if i get lots of anxious reviews. cuz they make me happy. and they let me know how every1 is loving or hating my story. is daniel still every1s favorite character? i think all of the family members have their pros and cons but daniel def has some qualities that the rest of them dont have. till next time! xoxo_


	18. Chapter 18

_sorry about the beyond long delay. i fail. i know. i kinda started this chapter a while ago but then never got back 2 it. life took over and then the anniversary of the titanic passed and i kinda got obsessed with that all over again and thats the kind of awsum person i am. i apologize, and if im not 2 tired after working this weekend, im goin have another chapter up by sunday night. and if not, im aiming 4 wednesday but i shall make up 4 my badness lol. warning: language as always...a lot more gross stuff is coming after this chapter so get ready 4 that =)_

Benjamin's blood was boiling. His youngest son was bleeding, and crying in his mother's lap. There was something wrong with this picture, and Benjamin was having a hard time trying to control his rage. The pathetic excuse for a man standing next to him was the reason that his boy was crying. Benjamin turned to face Hotch, and punched him right in the face without any given warning. He didn't deserve any. The agent fell to the floor, but Benjamin didn't stop. He wasn't going to stop. This son of a bitch was the reason his son was hurting. Benjamin kicked the agent in the stomach again and again and again. The agent started coughing, but why the hell would Benjamin back away? This ass didn't back away when Daniel was screaming. He kicked the agent as hard as he could in the chest, and when Hotch turned around to try to get away, he slammed his boot in the agent's ass. Hotch fell on his stomach and grunted.

"Laura, get his boxers off," Benjamin commanded.

"But honey…"

"Now!" he shouted. He didn't have time for any of this shit.

Laura followed his orders, and left her son near the body of his teacher. Benjamin stood close-by to make sure the agent didn't try anything funny, but he stayed put on the floor. He was still coughing. Laura got the boxers off in a swift movement, but she didn't drop them like Benjamin thought she would. She sniffed them which freaked him out a little bit, but everyone had rights to their own weird fantasies. He waited until she was out of the way before kicking him again. Hotch didn't cough, and then Benjamin jumped on his back. He probably outweighed the agent by quite a bit, but why would he care? This ass needed to learn the meaning of pain.

Hotch cried out, and when Benjamin got off of him, Hotch threw up. Benjamin didn't want to look it, but just a glance told him that it was the hotdogs that his wife force fed him hours before. The agent arched his back and threw up again on top of the first pile. It was more this time, and even Laura made a groaning noise and turned away. Hotch got in the position to puke once more, but thankfully, nothing came out this time. He was out of breath, and looked physically drained.

"Learn your lesson touch guy?" Benjamin asked.

Hotch weakly turned over to face him, and Benjamin just kicked him square in the jaw. Blood and bruises were covering the guy's face, and there were boot marks all over his body. It looked like it would hurt to touch. Benjamin smiled. Benjamin turned away for a second to tell something to his wife when Hotch lunged at him. He didn't see that coming. Hotch grabbed his legs, and pulled Benjamin to the ground.

"You asshole!" Benjamin yelled out.

He tried to get the agent off of him, but Hotch was holding him down. One of the agent's hands was running over his pockets as if trying to find something, but the joke was on him. Benjamin wasn't armed. He was just angry. Benjamin got his hands by the agent's shoulders, but Hotch wasn't budging. Benjamin couldn't believe this jerk wasn't getting off of him. He had to know by now that Benjaim didn't have any kind of wonderful weapons in his pockets. Laura came up from behind, and kicked Hotch in between the legs. That was probably a little bit of hell on earth, especially with no boxers on. Hotch cried out, and that gave Benjamin enough time to get the agent off him. Benjamin got to his feet, and Laura kicked Hotch again in the back.

"Playing tough guy didn't work for ya? Did it buddy?" Benjamin asked the agent. "Get his bandages off. This guy isn't going to have anything to sleep with. Nothing!"

Hotch scooted against the wall, and looked up at Benjamin. He was bleeding on the side of his mouth, and one of his eyes looked just as bad as Reid's eye did. Despite his injuries, he didn't look scared at all.

"How do you know he ain't goin try and hurt me?" Laura asked.

Daniel stood up, and walked over his parents. Benjamin didn't want his son getting anywhere near that fucker, but Daniel bent down to his knees. It looked like was going to say something to the agent, but he just took one of the agent's hands. Benjamin was going to die a little inside if Daniel gave him a friendly handshake, but Daniel surprised him. He took Hotch's index finger, and bent it down all the way backwards. He actually got the finger to touch the man's wrist, and Hotch was screaming louder than before. Laura got on her knees, and ripped off the half fast work that Daniel did on Hotch's legs. The paper towels formed a bloody mess on the floor, and Benjamin saw that they hadn't helped all the much. The dark hair on Hotch's legs was sticking to the still drying blood, and it looked terrible.

"So what we goin do with him?" Laura asked. She got back on her feet, and put her arms around Benjamin's neck. Daniel stayed on the floor, but kept a distance away from Hotch. Benjamin guessed that the agent wasn't going to try anymore stupid tricks. His finger looked like it was already starting to swell.

"I can keep an eye on him," Daniel said.

"No way sir," Laura replied. "You got to get your little butt in bed."

"But there's no school tomorrow!" Daniel complained. "I don't have that much homework really, and I'd like to watch him after what he's done to me."

"What are your plans boy?" Benjamin asked him. He wasn't in the mood for any more surprises.

"Not going to let him sleep," Daniel said shrugging.

"That's lame," Benjamin said. It was lame. Benjamin didn't want the agent dead yet, but he wanted something better than denying the man dreams.

"No, not really," Daniel said sitting back down next to his freaky teacher. "I read about it once. Denying a person sleep can be more deadly than any weapon."

"How would you keep him awake?" Laura asked.

"I have my ways," Daniel said coldly.

"Fine," Benjamin said. He didn't care anymore. He just wanted to get to bed. He had a long day, and he couldn't be more grateful that it was over. "Just don't kill him yet. We're going to drop your teacher off tomorrow night. Don't flip out on me or nothin, but she's goin be stinkin and I ain't keeping her in the freezer. Even I got higher standards than that."

"What happens if he dies on his own?" Daniel asked. "He looks like he is already sick. I don't know how much more he can take."

"Then we got two bodies to drop off tomorrow," Benjamin growled. He didn't like that idea, but if it happened, it happened. He wasn't going to fret himself out about it. It would probably be for the best because then he could get two more women. He liked the struggle that the men gave, but women would always be his favorite.

"Try not to let him die," Laura softly. "I like this one. He really does look like a big Hollywood actor guy, and I don't think I've ever seen someone quite as handsome as him."

"I won't Ma," Daniel replied. "I love you."

"I love you too baby boy," Laura said smiling. She bent down, and kissed her kid on the cheek. Daniel smiled back, but Benjamin noticed he wasn't looking like himself. The boy was acting more clumsy than usual, and it looked like his head kept hurting. The kid never told him, but it was obvious he was having pretty bad headaches. Probably having a tough time at school or somethin. Nothing to worry himself about. The only thing Benjamin was going to concentrate on was getting his fat ass into bed.

* * *

><p>Rossi couldn't sleep that night. He couldn't imagine what his friends were going through, and he kept blaming himself that he left them alone. He should have known better. The unsubs were calling Hotch and Reid out by name, and he still let them go off on their own. He even put Prentiss' life in danger because of his own stupidity. If something happened to them, what would he do? What could he do? He would never forgive himself, but that was a given. He tried to keep a calm surface in front of the rest of the team, but that was just to keep everyone else from panicking. Hotch and Reid had been missing for days, kidnapped by people who killed their victims in the first few hours, and they still had no signs of their friends.<p>

Rossi wanted to get out of bed at five that morning. He wasn't tired, and he was ready to start searching. He didn't want to rest when he knew that his friends couldn't rest. He didn't think he could ever really sleep again until Reid and Hotch were found. He pulled some blue jeans up his legs, and put on two pairs of socks. Cold was creeping in through the hotel window, and after Rossi put on a button up shirt, he looked outside. He couldn't see that much. It was still dark out there, but he could tell it was snowing. The window was cold to the touch, and was partially frozen on the outside. Rossi put a jacket on over his sweater, and zipped it up to the top. After he put his boots on, he sat back down on his bed. He would have to wait for an hour before officially getting up. He didn't want to wake anyone on the team. They needed their sleep too, and just because he couldn't sleep, didn't mean they couldn't.

He was pouring over the list of names that Garcia gave them yesterday. He had them spread out on his bed along with the names of the victims. They weren't able to identify all of the bodies that were found, but they did get a pretty good list. Rossi felt terrible when he heard that some of the bodies were so far decomposed and rotted away that identification would be nearly impossible. He sent his findings to police stations around the state for missing people, but he told them flat out that they probably wouldn't hear anything. The victims would be buried without ever getting a proper funeral from the ones they loved in life, and that made Rossi sad.

Women made up the majority of the victims. The common age was late 20s to mid-30s, and while they didn't take children, the girl that brought the BAU there was a teenager still in high school. Rossi considered that a child. She was the first one that was kidnapped from that town, and she was a student in Parker's class. Parker was abducted shortly after that, and Rossi predicted that her body would be the first one found. Rossi didn't want to tell the others, but he was pretty confident that she was dead. If the unsubs were really looking for Hotch and Reid, she would be considered disposable. They were going to find her body soon, but Rossi needed to find out who took them before they found her body. He had to. After they got rid of her, it would only be a matter time before they killed Hotch and Reid.

There were less than 30 kids in Parker's class, and most of them lived in single parent households. Rossi crossed out those names, and looked at the ten remaining students. He would ask Garcia later about which of these ten had siblings, but these were the kids he was going to focus himself on. He knew that one of them had his friends. While two girls were on the list, he had a strong feeling that the girls had nothing to do with it. He would get them checked out, but he wasn't going to bet anything on it. It was one of the boys. They were thinking before that Parker was taken just because of who she was. Everyone in the town knew her, and she was going to be missed, but there could be another reason. What if the student that took her had a crush on her? It was common for teenagers to have crushes on their young teachers, and it seemed completely plausible that's what happened. The kid showed the teacher to his parents, and it was the end of the road for her.

That was it. Rossi knew it. He stood up, and looked at the clock. It was almost 6am, and that was good enough for him. He gathered up the photos of the ten students, and stuck a pair of gloves in his pocket. It was too cold outside to not have them. He thought about getting a hat as well, but decided against it. He wasn't going to be hanging around outside. He was going to be finding the bastards that took his friends. He locked the door behind him, and went downstairs to the main room. Morgan was already sitting on one of the couches pouring over all of the information they gathered about the people they sought.

"Morning," Rossi told him without much thought.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Morgan asked.

"I don't think any of us are sleeping that well anymore," Rossi said. He sat down in an armchair across from the couch, and put the photographs on the coffee table between them. "I think it's one of these kids. I'm betting it's one of the boys, but it could be any of them. These are the kids that come from Parker's class. All of them live with both parents, and none of them live that close to town."

Morgan picked up one of the photos, and scanned his eyes over it and the others. He looked exhausted, but Rossi wasn't going to ask him about it. All of them were exhausted.

"So you think we should split up and interview these families?" Morgan asked.

"I don't think splitting up is a good idea," Rossi answered. "It's not at all. When these unsubs are caught, they aren't going down without a fight. They are going to be armed, and they are going to be dangerous."

"I just don't like having to talk to one at a time. That would take most of the day if we do a good job, and Reid and Hotch really don't have that much time," Morgan argued.

"I'd rather be safe. We can do it in pairs, and have officers come with us if needed. Most of these people live right in the forest, and since we aren't from here, it's going to be easy to get lost. Dying in the middle of the woods isn't on my to do list, but we can have Garcia on the phone to give us exact directions."

"The sheriff probably wouldn't mind going with us to the houses further away," Morgan said. "What are you thinking?"

"That the teacher's dead," Rossi said after a moment.

"Me too," Morgan said quietly. "We have to get to work as soon as the others wake up. I want these sons of bitches caught today."

"Let's start splitting up these names," Rossi said.

"I'll grab us some coffee," Morgan said standing up. "We need to stay awake today."

"I don't think we'll need caffeine to help us," Rossi replied. He watched Morgan walk away, and then looked back at the pictures. One of these teens knew where his friends were. One of them knew, and he was going to find out which one.

* * *

><p>If anyone asked Hotch why he did what he did, he wouldn't be able to answer. He couldn't explain his own actions. He was planning on using that weapon that Kate allowed him to grab, but he wasn't planning on using it so soon. He just couldn't stand it anymore. When Daniel gave him the opportunity, he attacked. His idea was to aim for the throat. Stabbing the fork into Daniel's throat would most likely kill him, but would that really help Hotch in any way? Hotch still couldn't walk. Both of his legs felt like they were on fire, and he didn't think he would be able to simply leave the house without being noticed. The odds were against him, and while he wanted Daniel to suffer, he couldn't do it. He just couldn't. Daniel was still just a kid. He was crazy and he had some serious issues he needed to deal with, but he was a kid. He was a skinny little thing who had a troubled past hidden behind his dark eyes. Hotch wouldn't kill him.<p>

Did Hotch regret not killing him? He didn't right away. He was barely conscious when the family was talking around him, and he didn't know what they were saying. They left him alone, and that gave him time to think. He was chained to the wall again, but he was more worried about the possibility of infection. The floors were filthy, and he couldn't keep his legs from touching the ground. He laid his head on the wall behind him, and thought about Reid. Was he dead? He hadn't seen his youngest team member in hours, and no one was kind enough to tell him what was going on. The teacher was dead, and he remembered one of them telling Daniel not to kill him. Was that because Reid was already dead? He was supposed to protect Reid. He was the baby of their team. Hotch was supposed to keep him safe, and if he failed the young genius, he would never be the same again.

Hotch wasn't even aware that he was nodding off until he was harshly woken up. Frozen water was dripping off of Hotch's hair and onto his face. He looked up, and saw Daniel standing in front of him holding a large bucket. Hotch's body trembled, and he tried shaking the water out of his hair, but it was next to impossible. He couldn't move that much, but he was so cold. He didn't think he had ever been so cold in his entire life.

"Were you dreaming?" Daniel asked.

"What?" Hotch asked. The water was falling down Hotch's face and onto the rest of his body. That, combined with the cold room of the freezer, was hell on earth.

"Were you dreaming?" Daniel asked again.

"Why did you do that?" Hotch asked him. His teeth were chattering.

"You aren't going to sleep anymore," Daniel said calmly. "The deer were out this morning. You almost fell asleep last night, but you didn't so I watched the deer. They like the winter time. They like the cold. I didn't let them see me so they wouldn't run, but they were beautiful."

"I am really cold," Hotch said in between breaths.

"That's okay," Daniel said sweetly.

Daniel turned his back on Hotch, and went over to check on his teacher. He kissed her on the cheek, and ran his fingers through her hair. It made Hotch's stomach turn.

"Where's Reid?" Hotch asked.

"Did you know that it's not illegal to kill….no wait," Daniel said putting his hand to his head. He clenched his eyes closed, and breathed in deeply. "Wait."

"What's wrong?" Hotch managed to ask. He was getting colder by the second.

"I got that water from the lake outside," Daniel said. "It's starting to freeze over."

"Are you sick?" Hotch pestered.

"I'm not sick!" Daniel shouted.

He turned around, and kicked Hotch in the leg. It didn't do much damage, but Daniel didn't stick around to see. He ran out of the room with his bucket and slammed the door behind him. Hotch kept his legs up by his chest, but he was so cold. His position wasn't keeping him warm, and he couldn't get his jaw to stop chattering. He was going to get murdered by a 15 year old kid if something wasn't done soon.

* * *

><p>Reid didn't remember the night at all. He didn't even remember getting knocked out, but that much was obvious. Reid woke up slowly, and found out that he was tied up to the leg of a large bed. It was bedroom, but it didn't belong to the boys. Reid lifted his head up weakly and looked around. He was alone. The bed was unmade, but it had been slept in. The carpet was filthy, and the sheets smelled funny. Reid tugged on the ropes, but they didn't budge. He didn't expect them to. He was just hoping against hope that something would change, but nothing ever did here.<p>

His head was aching terribly, and while he was warmer not be in the freezer, it was cold in the house period. His stomach was past the point of growling, but he would do almost anything for a cup of water. His tongue was dry in his mouth, and the soda that Daniel gave him the other night probably only made him more dehydrated. He ran his eyes over the papers scattered on the floor. He didn't care what they said, but he needed to do something to keep himself awake. A few of them looked like old homework assignments, but several of them looked like hospital bills. Reid leaned closer and finally got a complete name: Benjamin Arthur Bates. The name suit him well.

"When did you wake up?" an angry voice asked him.

Reid turned away from the papers, and saw Benjamin standing in the doorway wearing an old bathrobe. Reid tried wetting his lips with his tongue out of habit, but his tongue was too dry to supply him with any extra moisture.

"Um, just now," Reid said.

"Both boys are home for the day. Do you know how bad this sucks? I hate it when they both got nothin to do but lie around like lazy bums."

"They don't help you around the house?" Reid asked. Reid didn't care one way or the other, but he thought it was a good idea to keep the man talking.

"What do you think doctor?" Benjamin asked.

Benjamin pulled his blue pajama bottoms off, and found a pair of jeans in his top drawer. After a small struggle with the buckle, Benjamin got them on. It was a snug fit, but Reid wasn't going to mention it. Reid was actually tying to look any other way except for in Benjamin's direction. There were some things in life that Reid never needed to see, and this was one of them. Benjamin found an old shirt thrown over some chair, and put that on. Reid had a strong feeling that the shirt hadn't been washed in weeks. After throwing on a jacket over the shirt, Benjamin was done dressing. He untied Reid from the ropes, and pulled him to his feet.

Reid smelled alcohol in the man's breath, and Reid pulled his head back to avoid the smell. How long had he been here? It felt like over a month, but Reid knew that was impossible. It could have only been a few days, but why didn't the team come yet? The town didn't seem that big, but Reid was having a hard time remembering. He was feeling light headed, and he could barely stand on his own two feet.

"We are huntin again today for a third one of you people," Benjamin said proudly. He put Reid's body in front of his home, and guided him out into the hallway. "The woman wants another guy that looks like your friend, but me and the boys want a chick. I like girls better."

"Where is my friend?" Reid asked.

"It don't matter," Benjamin answered.

He pushed Reid into the kitchen where Reid fell on his knees. Laura was busy preparing something on the counter, and Joseph was eating corn flakes at the table. Reid didn't see Daniel anywhere which wasn't a good sign.

"What's the plan today with the virgin?" Benjamin asked.

Laura didn't even turn to acknowledge Reid when he fell. Joseph's eyes never left the television, and Benjamin actually walked away to talk to his wife. If Reid was well enough, he could have ran for it. If he got outside, it would be easy enough to hide behind one of the trees and wait for rescue, but he wasn't well enough. His legs weren't going to cooperate with him. Reid sat down on his legs, and tried to figure out where Daniel was. School wasn't in session, and if he wasn't with his brother, where was he?

"Are you sure that black guy ain't goin remember who we are? What if he comes lookin for us?" Laura asked.

"Just hide him," Benjamin said. "He ain't goin search a house. He needs a warrant for that, and doesn't have a cause."

"And if he gets a cause? What then?"

"Just give Reid to Daniel. He'll do somethin with him, and then it's out of our hands. I thought we was pickin out another girl today. I kind of had my eye set on one of them girl agents, but that's probably too risky."

"Are you stupid?" Laura asked. She stuck a plate with some kind of food in the microwave, and put her hands on her hips. "No more agents!"

"I'm bringing home a woman," Benjamin argued. "And she's goin be hot. I don't care what her job is. She can be a fucking grave digger for all I care. As long as she's hot."

"Fine. Do so. Be a big man and get another damned woman," Laura said. "What are you goin do with him then?"

"He got a fever," Benjamin said.

"How you know?"

"His forehead is warm. I ain't dumb Laura. The kid is sick," Benjamin said.

Reid didn't even know he was sick. He didn't think he was sick, but he knew he wasn't feeling well. His arms were still handcuffed behind his back so he still wasn't able to feel his forehead to feel for warmth. What would he be sick with? He caused the headache on dehydration, but what if it was something else?

"Nothing contagious," Laura said. She took her food out of the microwave, and Reid saw it was only a pop tart. It would be great for her chubby stomach. "None of us is sick so we can't catch it either."

"You can let me go," Reid said quietly. The sound of his own voice startled him, but he kept talking. "I won't be able to go that far. It's cold out there, and I don't have anything on my feet."

"You're not going out there until you're dead boy," Benjamin said.

"Please," Reid said. He didn't even realize his body was trembling until caught himself doing it. He didn't want to die there. He tried lifting himself back to his feet to negotiate with the alcoholic, but Joseph came up from behind him and kicked him in the back. Reid fell flat on his face, but didn't make a sound. Joseph poured the rest of his cereal and milk into Reid's hair, and Reid tried covering his face with the carpet. He didn't want of that in his eyes. Joseph laughed.

The odds of surviving this were low. If they really were losing interest him, it wouldn't be long before he was killed. He didn't know how he was going to die or how long he really had left, but he was concerned about the new girl Benjamin wanted to get. Laura didn't want him to get someone from the team, but what really was stopping him? Reid thought that he would die inside if something happened to one of the girls on the team. He didn't want any woman to have to go through what Hotch and him had already gone through, but what could he do?

* * *

><p>J.J. was the last one from the team to wake up, and she knew she shouldn't have been embarrassed, but she was. It was just after 8am, and the entire team was already down in the sitting area drinking coffee. Garcia was even there which was surprising. She guessed that none of them could sleep considering the circumstances, but J.J. was out like a light when her head hit the pillow last night. The room was warm, and she had been working so hard all day long. She didn't dream though, and she wasn't going to talk about how well she slept when she saw dark circles under everybody else's eyes.<p>

"Morning sleepy head," Garcia smiled.

"Sorry I came down here so late," J.J. said sitting in an armchair. She saw familiar photographs scattered all around the table near her, but a few of them were kept separate from the rest. "What did I miss?"

"Here's your coffee," Prentiss said handing over a hot cup. "I figured you'd get down around this time."

J.J. took the cup with both hands, and took a large sip. It almost burned her tongue, but it was worth it. It woke her up almost instantly.

"Thank you," J.J. said.

"We've narrowed it down to the students with parents from Parker's class. There are ten students in total, and two of those are girls," Morgan told her. "We were going to break into teams and talk to the families of these ten students."

"Isn't that going to take a while? None of these addresses look that close," J.J. said.

"We are going to have the sheriff helping us out," Rossi said. "I'm positive that one of these kids has some kind of relation to our unsub."

"Rossi was thinking that one of the kids probably had a crush on Parker too," Prentiss continued. "It makes perfect sense about why she was abducted after one of her students."

"And we don't have a lot of time," Morgan said. "We really don't. I've been getting a bad feeling all morning, and I think we should just start right away. We can get more coffee to go, but I'm ready to leave now."

"Me too," Prentiss said getting up. She put a huge jacket over a red sweater, and zipped it up part way. J.J. hadn't even noticed yet that it was snowing out there.

"Okay, what are the teams?" J.J. asked.

"We were thinking that you went with Morgan and that I go with J.J.," Rossi said.

"And I stay right here and wait for you guys to come back with boss man and boy genius," Garcia said smiling. Even though she was showing off her pretty smile with her glossy lipstick, J.J. could tell how upset she really was.

"We each take five names?" J.J. asked looking down at the pictures again.

"Yeah," Morgan said. "We've already divided them up."

Morgan handed her a small pile of photographs along with names and addresses. It looked like they had been busy while she was sleeping in her warm bed upstairs. The first name on their list was one of the girls. J.J. already knew that this girl wasn't the person they were looking for, but it was better to just cancel her out all the same.

J.J. didn't look at the rest of the pictures until she was in the car. Morgan was driving, and after J.J. put a jacket over the sweater she was wearing, she got the rest of the pictures out: Jodie Douglas, Thomas "Tommy" Phelps, Samuel Sanders, Elijah Andrews, and Daniel Bates. All of them looked nice kids, but J.J. knew this wasn't a wild goose chase. If the list that she got didn't have who they were looking for, then the list that Rossi and Prentiss did.

Jodie's house wasn't that far away from the hotel, and it was probably the easiest house to find from their list. It was a modest two story house, and there were construction paper turkeys taped on the downstairs windows. There were two pink bikes by the front door, and the powdery snow was starting to blanket the ground. It was beautiful, but J.J. wasn't going to let herself forget why she was there in the first place. Her friends were missing, but she was going to find them.

"What exactly are we going to say to them?" J.J. asked.

"Just follow my lead," Morgan said. "Look around the house if they invite us inside. We don't have a warrant yet, but we can get one if we need one."

J.J. counted for steps leading up the front door, and they only waited for a few seconds before someone answered the door. It was a little girl with dark hair and green eyes. She looked to be about 10 years old. A laughing snowman on her sweater made J.J. smile. The young never appreciated how lucky they had it until it was too late. J.J. would never want to go back to high school, but grade school wasn't bad.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Derek Morgan," Morgan told her. "Is your mom or dad here?"

"Yep," she said.

"Could we talk to them please?" J.J. asked her.

"Dad!" she shouted loudly. She turned around and ran up the staircase. She left the front door wide open, but they didn't go inside.

A man with a dark beard and dark eyes appeared at the top of the stairs. He didn't really look that happy to be disturbed with whatever he was doing before. He came down the stairs, and looked over Morgan and J.J.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked.

"Hello Mister Douglas?" Morgan asked.

"Yes?"

"My name is Derek Morgan, and we are here from the FBI. Would it be alright if we came inside?"

"Sure, fine," Douglas said. He stood aside as they walked inside, and he led them into the living room. "Sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting company. Is this about the murders?"

"Did you know any of the victims?" Morgan asked.

"One of them was a kid in my girl's class. Did you want to talk to her? Jodie!" Douglas shouted.

"What?" a voice came from upstairs.

"Get down here! FBI's here!"

A girl ran down the stairs, and appeared in the doorway. She looked to be a spitting image of her little sister with the dark hair and emerald eyes. She was dressed in jeans, and an oversized tee shirt. Her eyes got wider when she saw J.J. and Morgan like she wasn't expecting them.

"You're that guy who came to my class!" she exclaimed. "Did you find Miss Parker?"

"We're still looking," he told her.

"Then why in the world are you here? She's not here you know," Jodie said.

"We just wanted to meet some of the students that were in her class. Did you know her well or Audrey maybe? When was the last time you saw her?"

"I didn't know Audrey at all. She was kind of a dweeb, and I leave the school like right after the last bell rings. I hate class. I kind of remember seeing Miss Parker outside the day she went missing. She was walking home. I never saw her since."

"What is your job Mr. Douglas?" Morgan asked.

"You're suspecting me?" Douglas asked with a laugh. "I work full time as a carpenter at the furniture street on Miller. My younger daughter, Therese, goes to the grade school near the town's high school. My wife works at the grocery, and she is currently pregnant with our third child. We are hoping for a boy, but we'll take what God gives us."

Morgan nodded, and J.J. knew that they were done there. She crossed Jodie's name off the list, and they were escorted back to the front door. Douglas offered them some coffee for the road, but they both declined. They already had coffee in the car, and they had a long way to go to the next house which was further into the woods. J.J. was a little bit sad that they hadn't had any luck with the first house, but all of them knew that it wasn't likely to be a girl. J.J. was just wishing to find her dear friends on the first trip, but it could never be that easy.

* * *

><p>Daniel sat on a log outside watching the little animals that kept coming and going. The snow was starting to pick up though, and the gentle flakes that were falling from the sky were going to turn into a harsh blizzard by later that day. He didn't wear a jacket, but he didn't feel cold. The little dot in front of his left eye was becoming more of a constant companion, and his headaches were getting worse. It couldn't be just migraines. It couldn't, but then what was it? He saw a little white rabbit come out from behind a fallen tree, and Daniel tried following it with mild interest. He had been killing those rabbits since he was just a little kid. His Pa always said that he would probably have a promising career as a hunter, but Daniel wasn't interested in that.<p>

He kept quiet, and followed at a short distance. He couldn't be seen, but his feet weren't working with him like they usually did. He couldn't get them to move right, and after a few steps, he fell to the ground. He hit hard, and felt his knee scrape against a sharp rock. His pants leg was torn open, and the rabbit was gone. He slammed his fist down on the dirt in anger, and looked up at the sky. What was wrong with him? He didn't know how long he had been gone, but he figured it was time to go back. Hotch was probably trying to sleep again, and he couldn't let that happen.

He walked over to the river for more water, and smashed open the frozen river with his bucket. It took a few hard smacks, but he got it to crack. He filled it up, and stood up to leave when he tripped again. He fell back, and couldn't stop himself from breaking more ice in the river. He fell right in the frozen water, and lost his breath. The water surrounded his body, and it felt like sharp knives stabbing him all over. He struggled to find the surface, but it was a lot more difficult than they made it seem in the movies. His shoes fell off his feet, and his toes were burning from the icy water. He couldn't even calm his own heart down. He lived in these woods his entire life, and this was the first time that he's ever fallen.

He thought he was going to die. He was never going to be able to find himself out, and he was going to be dead in a matter of seconds without getting air in his lungs. That's when his frantic hand finally found the surface. He found the hard ice on top, and got his other hand up as well. Using most of his strength, he pulled himself out. He took a deep breath, and collapsed on the frozen surface. He took a few seconds to get his breath, but he couldn't stay there. Shoes or not, he needed to get home.

Daniel got himself up, but he couldn't stop falling. Was he dying? He didn't know, but he didn't really care. With the help of a creepy looking tree, Daniel got on his feet without falling. He had to steady himself, but he didn't fall. He was starting to lose feeling in his toes, but that little dot in front of his eye never left him. It would probably follow him all the way to hell. He was certain that he was going to the fires in the depths of the earth when he died. No God would ever allow someone like Daniel in paradise.

When he got home, he ran to the shower. No one even asked him where he had been, but he spotted a badly beaten up Reid tied to a drain in the kitchen. He looked like he could barely keep his head up. Daniel wondered where Reid would go when he died. Would he be good enough to get into heaven or would he spend eternity rotting in hell with Daniel and his family? Daniel would have to remember to ask him after his shower. He turned the water on steaming, and stepped into the shower after his clothes were off. It burned his pale skin, but it felt good. He let it run down his hair and over his back. He was finally able to catch his breath, and with his eyes closed, the annoying dot was gone.

He didn't dress any warmer when he got out of the shower. He found a new pair of jeans underneath his bed, and got a shirt from the closet. He didn't know if it belonged to him or Joseph, but it didn't matter all that much. It was just a shirt. He pulled a pair of socks over his feet, and was amused when he found a blue tint in the big toe. He really had almost killed himself. He was sure of it, but he wasn't going to tell his heroic tale to anyone. No one else would care. He did want to talk to Reid though. Not about falling in the ice. He just wanted to talk to him.

When he got back into the kitchen, his parents weren't there. Joseph was sitting in front of the television, going through their limited channels, but where did their parents go? They left Reid leaning against the wall by the refrigerator, and he was sure that Hotch was still in the freezer.

"Where did they go?" he asked his brother.

"How am I supposed to know? I'm not their keeper," Joseph said.

"They didn't tell you?"

"They took the truck into town. Maybe they is looking for more girls or something. You killed the last one too fast," Joseph replied.

Daniel nodded his head, but he didn't think his brother noticed. He went back into the kitchen without looking at Reid, and filled a bowl full of cold water. He put a few ice cubes in it for good measure, and walked the hallway down to the freezer. He pushed the door open, and nearly dropped the bowl.

Agent Hotchner was still awake. His hair never dried, and he was still trembling, but that isn't what got Daniel. The spot across from Hotch was empty. Miss Parker was gone. He put the bowl down, and ran to where she used to be. He couldn't believe it. He kept expecting to see her pop out somewhere behind his dot, but she really wasn't there.

"They took her," Hotch told him. "I don't know where."

"I never got to say goodbye," Daniel said. He could feel the tears forming in his eyes. He didn't stop them from falling. "I loved her. She wasn't supposed to leave!"

"You killed her," Hotch said. "She wasn't there anymore. You know that."

"Her ghost was going to come back though. She was going to come back and tell me that she made to heaven. I was waiting for her. I don't know if she'll come back if her body isn't here."

"I don't think she was going to come back," Hotch replied. "If her ghost ever did come back, I'm positive she would go to her parents or something. You would be last on her list."

Daniel went to the door, and picked up the bowl of water. He threw the whole thing on top of Hotch's head, and Hotch cried out from the sharp impact. Hotch deserved it. He didn't know what he was talking about, and he needed to shut up.

"If you kill me," Hotch said after the ice cubes fell around his feet. "I'll get to see Kate again first."

"I don't think you would ever go to heaven. You aren't as good as she was!"

"You don't know me," Hotch said in between the constant chattering of his teeth.

Daniel wanted to fight back. He wanted to argue with the older man, but Hotch was right. Daniel didn't know him. Hotch could be a freaking saint for all Daniel knew. Daniel left the bowl on the floor, but he tripped and fell again as he was trying to leave the room. Hotch didn't say anything when Daniel hit the carpet just outside of the freezer. Daniel shut the door behind him so Hotch wouldn't be able to come up with anything snotty or rude to say to the confused teenager.

He went back into the kitchen. His brother didn't ask what he had being doing in the freezer, but Daniel didn't think he would answer him even if he did ask. He sat down by Reid after making sure he dried off any stray tears that fell from his eyes. He couldn't believe that he was never going to see Miss Parker again, and after they killed Reid, then what? He would have no one.

"It's getting dark out there," Reid said quietly.

"Winter is here," Daniel said back. It was only afternoon, but it certainly was getting dark. "Are you afraid to die?"

"Don't let your parents get someone else," Reid begged. Reid finally turned his head to face him, and Daniel swore that he looked just like a ghost. His skin looked much too pale, and the scrapes across his face looked like something out of a horror movie.

"I can't control them," Daniel said. "I didn't even know they took my teacher away."

"I'm not well," Reid said. "Do you see that bruise on my chest? It isn't like what Parker had, but it's not much better. I'm pretty I've broken a few ribs, and it's not getting any better. I don't know if your dad was right, but if I have a fever like he thought, I really need to go to a hospital."

A little blue bird landed on the window sill just behind the microwave. Daniel stood up, and walked over to it. It was such a perfect shade of blue, and it didn't seem afraid of Daniel at all. Was this Miss Parker? Was this the sign that she was sending him? Daniel heard loads of times before that the dead often sent birds as signs to the living. This could be it!

"Daniel?" Reid asked, but his voice sounded far away. If this bird was Miss Parker, he needed to catch it. He needed to put it in a cage, and keep it for all time. She really would belong to him.

"Daniel?" Reid asked again. "Are you seeing a circular dot in front of one of your eyes?"

_oh yes. how i love u daniel lol. like i said, next chapter is goin b pretty fun n like a million ways. so keep reading and reviewing. u know i LOVE 2 get reviews when im working all weekend. till next time! xoxo_


	19. Chapter 19

_chapter 19 is here! this chapter is extemley graphic. like really bad graphic. so thats my wanrning lol. theres language, violence, grossness is general and fun reading if ur up 4 it =)_

Garcia traveled back and forth from the hotel to the police station to help find information about locations or the people who were being looked at while the rest of the team was gone. It was nice to have a little time alone, but she didn't want it to be like this. Most of the people in the town weren't too friendly, and it was obvious that she wasn't wanted there. She tried to be her cheery usual self, but it was hard when she could hear rude whispers and complaints behind her back. She didn't want to be there either. She wanted to go back home, but she would never leave without her friends. Hotch and Reid were still there, and they were waiting for their rescue. They needed her, and she would never leave them.

The snow was falling harder than it was that morning, and the sun was going down fast. It was hiding behind the tall trees when Garcia left the police station for the third time. Morgan was getting lost going to the third house on his list, and after much assistance from the kindly officers there, Morgan and J.J. were on their way again. Garcia held a coffee cup that she got from the station close to her chest, and she kept her head down when she walked to keep the flurries out of her face. The wind was picking up, and the snow started falling harder. She could barely see the sidewalk in front of her, and no one was around to help. She walked a few steps, but realized she had no idea where she was going. She didn't see any landmarks to help her get to the hotel, and if she stayed out there much longer, she would never get back out.

She turned to the first building she saw, and was grateful to find it unlocked. She shut the door behind her, and found it was the town hall where they held their meeting the other night. It was actually very creepy to be in there all alone. The rows of chairs were all empty, and the little stage where J.J. was speaking at was completely dark. Shadows were cast around the room from the little light that was still outside, and Garcia was actually contemplating going back out into the growing storm to get away from the potentially haunted town hall. She knew that was a crazy idea, but she didn't like to be by herself in such a scary looking place.

"Agent?" a voice called out.

Garcia turned back towards the stage, and saw an older woman that she never met before. She assumed that this woman knew the team, and might have seen her at the meeting, but Garcia didn't know her personally.

"Yes?" Garcia asked.

The woman came closer. She was wearing a brown skirt that went down to her ankles with a matching blouse on top. Most of it was covered over by a hideous jacket that the woman probably bought at a flea market or something. She held her hair tight in a bun above her head, and didn't wear any makeup to hide her blemishes.

"I don't think we've met before," she said kindly. "My name is Mrs. White. And you are?"

"Penelope Garcia," Garcia said.

"I saw you here last night, and you were talking with Agent Morgan so I knew you part of the team. I'm the principle of the high school."

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought I left a hat here, and I was looking for it. I can't find it which is disappointing, but now it looks like I'm stuck here until the storm blows over. The storms can get quite nasty."

"I was just going back to the hotel," Garcia told her. Garcia took off her gloves, and stuck them in her pocket so she wouldn't lose them. Her coffee was keeping her warm, but sadly, it was almost empty.

"Do you have any idea when they are going to get my teacher back? The subs I am finding are a poor replacement for her."

"I don't know ma'am," Garcia said honestly. "I usually just stay behind and work on computer stuff while the rest of my team does the physical stuff. We will find them though. I know we will, and we're going to find them all together."

"I can't believe they actually took people from your team. It just couldn't possibly be someone from this town. They are all good and hardworking folks who just want to stay in their own business."

Garcia was getting ready to respond when her phone rang. She put up a finger to excuse herself from the conversation with Mrs. White, and turned her back to the stage.

"Speak and be heard," Garcia said loudly.

"Hey Garcia," Emily Prentiss said on the other end. "We're almost back to the hotel, but we can't really see. It's getting really bad out here."

"I'm at the town hall with the principal. Do you know if you're near here?" Garcia asked. "It's warmer, and we were just going to wait it out here."

"I think we are?" Prentiss asked. "Rossi doesn't know either."

"Here, I'll come outside and wave you down," Garcia said.

She hung up her phone, and put her gloves back on. It was freezing outside, and she didn't know how long she could wait out there for her friends, but she wasn't going to let them crash.

"I'll come with you," Mrs. White said. "I know how hard it is to see. It will be easier with both of us than just one."

"Sure," Garcia said smiling.

* * *

><p>Benjamin was freezing his ass off. He wanted to get back home and have the old woman heat him up chicken noodle soup, but she was right. This was a perfect time to get rid of the body. They decided against carving her up. They didn't have enough time. It was really just a spur of a moment thing. Daniel was gone, but they didn't know how long he would stay gone so they grabbed the body and left. They stuck her in the backseat of the truck, and drove into town looking for a place to dump her.<p>

"I'm hungry," Laura said when they finally reached the main road.

"We ain't eating till we get rid of her," Benjamin said. How the hell was she thinking about eating with a dead chick in the backseat?

"Could we have a hamburger? I haven't had me one of those in a long time."

"Most places are probably closing," Benjamin said without a second thought. "Storm is bad. Who wants to work in this kind of weather?"

"You're no fun. You never take me out anymore!"

Benjamin sighed loudly. Why did women always want to go out? Benjamin works every single day of the week, and that doesn't keep his wife from yapping away his life.

"Fine. We can go out tonight after I have some more fun with them agents," Benjamin said. "Maybe we can find another girl tonight."

"Where at?"

"Movie theatre," Benjamin said. "I'm sure there will be a pretty thing out tonight. Just nab her when she's going to the bathroom or something."

"But then we'll miss the movie!"

"What do you want woman?"

"Dinner and movie like most women want. We never spend time together anymore, and I miss that buttercup."

"I'll get the girl after the movie. If she's on a date with some guy, which she probably will be, I'll just take the guy too. In fact, I'll let you pick out the next boy toy. I got a bad feelin that you're Hollywood boyfriend ain't goin last much longer."

"I know!" she whined. "I barely got to spend any time with him."

"There's always tonight," Benjamin said smiling. "We're going to have a fun time for sure."

"Daniel will be pissed when we get back though," Laura said thoughtfully.

"Just let him suck on them boobies," Benjamin said laughing loudly. "He loves doing that."

"I'm trying to get the boys to stop that. They's too old now," Laura said.

Benjamin parked the truck when he saw another car on the road. Who else would be driving right now? He hid his truck behind some brown van, and he waited for the other car to pass. It was a black SUV, much like the one he crashed into a tree when he took Hotch and Reid. It was the other agents. He just knew it. He looked around to see where they were at, and he spotted the town hall just a few feet away. The SUV was actually driving right by it.

"What we doing?" Laura asked.

"Help me get the teacher out," Benjamin said opening his door. "We're dropping her off here."

With Laura's help, Benjamin got the teacher over his shoulder. Laura kept watch while Benjamin ran all the way to the steps of the town hall. He made sure no one was behind him before he dropped the body in the freshly laid snow. The body was already partially frozen from the night she spent in the freezer, but she still wasn't that difficult to arrange. He spread the legs like he did with the previous victims, and put her arms above her head. He would have done more, but Laura was beckoning him back.

"We had a fun time teacher lady," Benjamin told her. He saluted the body, and jumped down the three steps of the building. The falling snow was already covering up his tracks, and the low visibility hid his truck from any other pestering eyes. The stupid agents wouldn't know what hit them. He high fived his wife when he was back in the truck, and drove them back out of town.

* * *

><p>Prentiss couldn't see anything out of her window. She was so happy that she wasn't driving, but Rossi couldn't see any better than she could. It wasn't a safe situation. Their interviews didn't really go as planned, but when does anything ever go according to plan? They weren't welcomed inside the first two houses, and the third house had rats running around the kitchen. Prentiss wanted out of there as soon as she saw the little creatures, but Rossi made sure that these people weren't the unsubs. Prentiss tried to pay attention to the conversation, but when a rat approached her shoe, she had enough. She had to wait outside in the cold for Rossi to finish, but it was just another dead end. After all of that, another dead end. They still had two more houses to visit, but the storm became too much for them. They had to wait it out somewhere safe.<p>

"Do you see her anywhere?" Rossi asked.

"Not yet," Prentiss said. They were both searching the streets for Garcia, but Prentiss hadn't spotted her yet.

"Where am I going to park?" Rossi asked.

"I don't know. Let's find her first," Prentiss replied. "Do you think that Morgan and J.J. are having better luck than us?"

"I'm sure they are," Rossi said. "What are the odds that we'd find an alcoholic the very first stop?"

"Not just that," Prentiss said smiling. "But the fact that he was drinking when we got there in the morning. You don't see that every day."

"No wonder his kid isn't getting good marks in school," Rossi added.

"Wait," Prentiss said putting her hand on the window. "There she is."

Rossi stopped the car in the middle of the street while Prentiss got out. Garcia was crossing the street in pretty blue boots with a matching jacket. An older woman that Prentiss knew as the principal was behind her.

"We were waving and you kept driving!" Garcia complained.

"Sorry, we didn't see you," Prentiss told her.

"Where can I park?" Rossi called out.

Mrs. White looked down the street, and back at the SUV that Ross was driving. She looked like she was out of breath.

"There's a spot just a few feet up," she told him.

"You guys go ahead," Rossi said. "I'll be right behind you."

Prentiss got out of the way of the vehicle, and followed the principal. Garcia stayed at her side, and she looked freezing. Prentiss was freezing too though. They didn't talk on the way back. Prentiss doubted that Garcia would even be able to hear her from the storm.

When they just outside the town hall building, Mrs. White stopped walking. Prentiss figured that she was just waiting for them to catch up, but then Prentiss heard her scream. Prentiss looked over at Garcia, and both of them ran to the older woman. Mrs. White was backing up with her hands covering her mouth. Prentiss looked at the stairs ahead to see what was making the principal scream, and a lump got caught in her own throat.

There was a body oddly positioned on the small staircase, and it wasn't in the best condition. Half of the face was covered in dried blood, and there was black bruise just underneath one of the breasts. There were marks around the woman's wrists and ankles, and Prentiss glanced at the dark red cuts around her thighs. Prentiss didn't think she had ever seen a body like that before. The legs were spread wide apart like the others, but there wasn't a crude message written anywhere. Prentiss already knew who it was from though. Garcia screamed, and stepped back with the teacher.

"Is she alive?" Mrs. White cried out. "Did you check? Is she alive?"

"Ma'am, we need to get back inside," Garcia told the principal. Garcia wasn't looking anywhere near the body. She kept her eyes down, and one of her hands was on Mrs. White's shoulder. She was shaking, and Prentiss wished that Garcia didn't have to see the body.

Prentiss could tell just by looking at the young woman that she was dead, but she bent over just to calm the principal down. She put two fingers against the bloody neck, and was surprised to find that the flesh was hard like she was already frozen. How could that be? Garcia would have seen her a long time ago, but then how was she so cold? There wasn't a pulse.

"She's dead," Prentiss said.

"Oh my God," Mrs. White screamed. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!"

"Ma'am, let's get inside," Garcia said gently.

"That's Miss Parker!" Mrs. White screamed loudly.

"How can you be sure?" Prentiss asked her.

"I know who I hire," Mrs. White said trying to regain her composure. "That's her. Oh my God, that's her."

Rossi came running up when he heard the screaming. Prentiss was glad that there was a storm outside just so no one could hear it. She couldn't believe what was happening. None of the bodies had been in this bad of shape. Not one of them. It looked like one of the teacher's eyes had actually caved into her head, and her brown hair looked matted beyond repair. Even though the blood covering her face was dried, it didn't make it any better. The woman had gone through hell and back before her death.

Rossi didn't say anything for a while when he got beside Prentiss. He looked down at the body, and put a hand over his mouth. Prentiss didn't think it was from a turning stomach, but just from shock. A sight like this was hard to take in.

"Get the principal inside," Rossi finally said.

Garcia nodded her head, and helped the older woman through another entrance to the building which left Prentiss and Rossi alone. The storm was getting worse, but they stood in silence for a few minutes. The shock from finally finding the teacher was terrible, but then realizing that Hotch and Reid were now by themselves with the people who did this murder was agonizing.

"Did you call Morgan yet?" Rossi asked.

"Not yet," Prentiss said. "I just got here too."

"I just parked the car when I heard the screaming. I didn't know what to think," Rossi said.

"That's the teacher. Mrs. White said she was sure of it," Prentiss said.

"Call Morgan up then," Rossi said. "I'm going to find a blanket for her. We should probably try to keep all of this snow off of her face."

Prentiss nodded, and watched Rossi run back to the SUV for a blanket. Prentiss didn't know if they had one in there or not, but she trusted Rossi knew what he was doing. With trembling hands, she took her cell phone out of her pocket, and speed dialed Morgan's number.

"Morgan," he said answering the phone.

"You need to get down here," Prentiss said. "We are at the town hall where the meeting was last night."

"What's up? Did you get any information? We still have two more places to visit," Morgan told her.

"So did we," Prentiss said. "We just stopped for the blizzard, but we found a body. It was the teacher. She's dead, and she's not in the best shape."

"Are you sure?" Morgan nearly shouted in the phone. "It's her? We're turning around now."

"The principal was here when we found her. We haven't properly IDed her or anything, but the principal was confident that this is Parker."

"We'll be there in about half an hour. Don't let anybody move the body until I get there," Morgan said quickly.

"Will do," Prentiss said quietly.

She put the phone back in her pocket, and looked down at the body again. Was this the same kind of treatment that Reid and Morgan going through? Was she going to find one of their bodies next? She stopped the tears from coming just as Rossi returned with the blanket. He covered up her body from the world, and offered Prentiss a hug. She needed the hug, and they both waited for Morgan and J.J. to come in the snow.

* * *

><p>Morgan had J.J. to get on the phone with the doctor in town who did the autopsies after he told what they had found. Morgan wanted the body looked at right away, and when the doctor tried making excuses of why he couldn't look at her today, Morgan pressured him. Morgan wasn't going to take no for an answer, and while he knew it could take several weeks for any official results, he was sure they could get some general information about the murder tonight.<p>

"I almost called Hotch," J.J. said weakly. "I know it sounds stupid, but it's hard to not call him when something like this happens."

"I know," Morgan told her. "We're going to bring them back home though. Both of them."

"We should have found them by now. This storm isn't helping at all. How can you even see the road?" J.J. asked.

Morgan couldn't really see the road. Not well, anyway. He was driving the same route he took to get there, and while he was usually really good at staying on straight roads, it was almost impossible. The wind was blowing from all different directions, and pushing snow up against the windshield. Morgan didn't see any other drivers on the small road at all, but the storm wasn't getting any better.

"I can't," Morgan said reluctantly. He never liked to admit when he wasn't in control of a situation, and storms usually fell under that category.

"We need to pull over then. I don't want to get into a car crash."

Morgan knew that she was right. It would be deadly to crash into something out in the middle of nowhere, and Morgan was positive that it would take hours for any help to even find them. He might have been stupid enough to keep driving on this road to see the body that his friends found, but he couldn't risk J.J,'s life.

"Prentiss and Rossi will make sure nothing is disturbed until we get there," J.J. continued. "I can't see anyone else willingly coming out into this weather either."

Morgan nodded in agreement, and took the first turn he found off of the dangerous road. Directly in front of him was an old diner. He couldn't be sure if it was open or not, but they had to take their chances. He pulled into the parking lot, and got a spot next to a white car. There were several vehicles parked out there, and with the storm raging on, he was sure to see other people looking for cover shortly. He zipped his jacket up, and helped J.J. get inside.

A blast of warm air greeted him once he pushed the door open. J.J. shook the snow off of her coat and stepped in beside him. It looked like a place that they only saw in movies. There was a waitress walking around refilling coffees to the seated guests, and Morgan spotted an older gentleman in the back grilling up hamburgers. They found a booth near the door, and J.J. went to work on texting the others to let them know they stopped until the weather got better.

"Can I get you anythin?" a short woman chewing gum asked them.

"Just coffee for me," J.J. said.

"Same," Morgan told her. "Thanks."

She walked away with a nod, and Morgan looked around. Two teenage girls were sitting at a corner table giggling, and a woman was standing in front of the window holding a little baby. There was an old man sipping from his coffee cup as he looked at the newspaper, and a couple was sitting near the bathrooms. They were talking between each other, but there was only one pastry in front of them. They looked familiar, but so did the other people in the building. Morgan was sure that he saw all of them at the town meeting.

"We shouldn't have to be here," Morgan complained. The storm was still raging outside, but what about his friends? They shouldn't have to wait for their rescue, and Morgan knew they were close. They were closer than ever to bringing Hotch and Reid back home. He could feel it in his veins.

"I know, but what can we do? Garcia saw the body too, and she's not taking it too well."

"Did they say if they found out anything from the people they talked to?" Morgan asked.

"She didn't mention it, but if they found anything, she would have told me," J.J. said.

Morgan didn't get any valuable information from the people he talked to either. The first boy they visited was the classic definition of a nerd with buck teeth and black framed glasses. He was a spitting image of his father, and the kid's mother was on the verge of being obese. There was no way possible for any member of the family to go around abducting people in the town. The boy they met right before the storm hit was a smart kid. He was the youngest sibling in the family consisting of three brothers, a mother who worked as a homemaker, and a father who was at work in construction more than he was home. While Morgan would have loved to say just to talk to Tommy, it wasn't helping the case. Tommy and his family weren't involved in the murders, and so Morgan had to move on.

They drank their hot coffee, and tried to talk about anything except for the cold corpse that was waiting for them back in town. Morgan kept his eyes on the people around him, but he was more interested in when the snow would slow down. He wanted to get back on the road. He didn't feel comfortable sitting in a warm restaurant while Hotch and Reid were suffering. The coffee tasted like cardboard, and it didn't calm his nerves while it slid down his throat.

The snow storm didn't start to slow down until almost an hour later. As soon as they could, the few people trapped at the diner went out to their cars. Morgan watched with little interest as the teenage girls braved the cold, and found their car in the parking lot. When the couple got up, they didn't look at Morgan or J.J., but that wasn't odd. Nobody in the town liked to look at them. They didn't seem to realize that the team was there to help them.

The couple walked quickly past Morgan and J.J., and they were just about to the door when the man dropped something out his pocket. He didn't seem to notice, and Morgan hated it when things fell out his back pocket and not knowing. Morgan got up, and went to pick the object off the floor. It could have been something important. It was a silver chain. It wasn't anything that special, but he might have been saving it for something. Morgan leaned over, and picked it up.

"Excuse me, sir?" Morgan asked him.

The man turned around, and looked pale when he looked at Morgan. He was sure that it was the cold. The door was open, and the wind was blowing in.

"You dropped this," Morgan said.

"Oh, thanks," the man mumbled.

Morgan dropped the chain in the man's waiting hand, and stood back while the man and his wife went out to the parking lot to find their car. Morgan went back to his table, and finished off his coffee. He needed all the extra caffeine he could get.

"You ready?" Morgan asked.

"I think I was ready before you were," J.J. said.

Morgan stuck his phone in his pocket, and led the way back into the calming storm. He didn't know what he was expecting to see when he saw the body. The face wasn't carved off, and there wasn't any threatening message drawn on the body, but he was nervous. How long would it before the unsubs tried abducting someone else? Morgan needed to call the sheriff when he got back to his car. They needed extra deputies on the lookout. If Morgan's prediction was correct, the next victim was going to be a woman, and they would be taking her soon.

* * *

><p>Benjamin couldn't believe what just happened. He couldn't believe it. It was Laura's smart idea to pull over and wait the storm out, and it seemed like a great idea until those agents walked in. He saw the black agent, and it felt like his blood just froze. He wanted to leave the second they walked in, but it would look awfully suspicious. He had to wait, and when he finally got his chance to leave, that damned chain just had to fall out of his pocket. It belonged to Kate at one time. He took it when he took the rest of her clothing. It used to have a small flower attached to it, but he couldn't find it anywhere. He kept the chain in his pocket for when he did find the flower. It would be a perfect gift for his wife.<p>

Nothing happened from their chance encounter, but that didn't calm Benjamin down any. He was pissed. What would he do if blackie did recognize him? Would he be arrested on the spot? Would they find his boys at home, and take away their futures? It all would be over, and he didn't think his beautiful wife would be able to last for five minutes in a prison. It was his duty to keep his family safe, and he was going to do that until it killed him.

"Not taking any more advice from you woman," Benjamin muttered under his breath.

"You thought it was a good idea too wise guy," Laura shot back.

He parked his truck right in front of the door to his house, and got out of the vehicle. His breath was heavy, and he didn't try to stop the fist that his hand was forming into. He kicked the front door open and looked around. His lazy ass older son was still sitting on the couch watching some stupid movie, and his freakish younger son was on the floor next to the skinny agent. Neither one of his boys were going to amount to anything at this rate.

He took long strides to get into the kitchen, and took the agent by his hair. Reid cried out, probably more from surprise than pain, but he didn't try to fight as Benjamin pulled him across the floor. His hair was dry from the shower that he had the other night, but Benjamin would have no problem wetting it again. He had to get rid of both of the agents. As beautiful as this kid was, he couldn't stay here any longer. He wasn't going to get caught with them in his house.

"Pa?" Daniel asked.

Benjamin hadn't noticed his boy trailing behind him. Why was the kid so easy to ignore? Was it because he was small? He wasn't exactly short, but he was skinny as hell. That needed to change. He needed to grow up and become a man.

"Pa? What are you doing?" Daniel asked a little bit louder than before.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Benjamin asked.

Benjamin opened the door to the freezer, and threw Reid across the room. Reid landed on one of his shoulders, but he rolled himself over into a sitting position. He scooted against the back wall, and looked over at Hotch. Hotch was looking terribly ill. He was soaking wet, and it was obvious that the handsome man was shivering from the cold of the room. Hotch had a scowl on his face when he looked at Benjamin and Benjamin frowned right back. He wasn't afraid of them. He was the one in control, and it was time they learned that.

"Have…a…bad day?" Hotch asked. His jaw was quivering, and Benjamin found that amusing.

"Joseph! Get in here boy!" he called out.

He stepped further into the freezer, and took glory in completely ignoring the agent. He wasn't going to talk to them. They didn't deserve that. His older boy ran in seconds later, and Daniel was still standing by the doorway peaking in.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Want to have a little fun with your old man tonight?" he asked smiling. "Don't think these two are going to last much longer, and I wanted to use them while we still can."

"What are your plans?" Joseph asked looking down at Reid.

Benjamin walked up to Reid, and kicked him hard in the leg. Reid winced, and Hotch started pulling at his restraints. This was awesome. Joseph smiled.

"Don't you put a hand on him!" Hotch shouted.

"Why not agent?" Benjamin asked.

"The team is going to be here soon, and you know it," Reid said quietly. "They are going to put you and your family away forever. You will be the sole reason that your boys are never going to enjoy a full life."

Benjamin took off his belt, and kicked Reid over onto his stomach. Reid fought though. Reid tried getting on his feet, but that's why Joseph was there. Joseph grabbed the jerk, and forced him down on his tummy. Benjamin slapped the black belt on Reid's back, and the kid screamed.

"At least they are going to live to see tomorrow," Benjamin shouted as he cracked the belt down again. The blood didn't squirt out of his back like he expected, but it seeped around the broken flesh that the belt left. The dark red blood fell around his back, and left the agent whimpering.

"I'm going first," he told Joseph.

He took off his pants, and got down on his knees. Joseph kept the agent's head steady, and with his arms handcuffed on his back, he wasn't able to use them to fight. He kicked his legs out behind him, but he wasn't as strong as he once was. Benjamin noticed that the kicks seemed weaker than before, and it wasn't using much strength to hold the young man down.

"You're goin enjoy yourself now Mr. Hollywood," Benjamin said smiling at Hotch. He never did it in front of the older agent yet, and this was going to be fun.

"Teaching your kids valuable life lessons, right?" Hotch asked.

"Just doin what I need to to get by," Benjamin said.

"The best role model in a child's live is the same sex parent," Reid said. "If they grew up watching you do this, what hope did they ever have of being normal?"

He pulled his boxers down, and rubbed his hands over the agent's behind. Reid was bucking his hips to keep Benjamin off, but it wasn't doing any good. What Benjamin wanted, Benjamin got. He just really wished that Blackie could watch this. That bastard deserved to watch his friend suffer. If he would just mind his own damned business, this wouldn't be happening.

"Get off of me!" Reid shouted.

Joseph pulled Reid's hair, forcing his face away from the ground, and that distracted him enough for Benjamin to do his thing. He separated the bony legs, and rammed himself inside. He felt the body beneath desperately try to scoot away, but Benjamin held him down. Reid's face was wet with tears, and Hotch was trying to get one of his hands cut off by the handcuffs or it seemed that way by the force of his struggling. He was shouting at the top of his lungs, but Benjamin easily blocked all of the threats out of his mind. He pulled himself out to the tip, and pushed himself back in building up a steady pace.

"He still tight Pa?" Joseph asked.

"Just like always," Benjamin said closing his eyes.

"Please stop," Reid sobbed. "Please."

Benjamin pushed himself deep in while concentrating on the feelings of excitement rushing all through his body. His wife couldn't do that for him anymore. He still had sex with her, but not like they used to, and he was positive that she didn't have any orgasms. That was a thing of the past. They used to do it almost every night, but as she got older, and went through the loss of her unborn child, she changed. She didn't seem to like it anymore, and she usually encouraged him to go find people just so she wouldn't have to sleep with him. He didn't mind, but that was just because he felt younger again. He loved being on top, being in complete control of the person beneath him. He loved to hear the person screaming, and he loved to feel blood creep around his member when he pushed too hard. He could be as rough as he wanted with the person he abducted just because their life didn't matter. He was always gentle with his wife. He would never hurt her, but he would enjoy killing these agents.

"You're making him bleed," Daniel said somewhere from behind. His voice was so quiet that it almost sounded like a ghost.

"I know that Daniel," Benjamin said sharply.

He pushed in deep for a final time, and felt himself release into the trembling body underneath him. Reid was crying, and Hotch was shaking again from the cold.

"Is it my turn dad?" Joseph asked.

"Fine," Benjamin said agreeing.

He pulled himself out of Reid, and shuddered when he saw how much blood was on the agent's thighs. He looked around to see if Daniel wanted to comment, but the boy was gone. He got on his feet, and pulled his boxers and pants back up his legs. For good measure, he cracked the whip against the bleeding back and Reid screamed.

"Dad!" Joseph whined. "Hold him down for me too."

Benjamin switched places with his older son, and enjoyed crashing the agent's face against the floor again and again while Joseph got ready. It wasn't exactly painful, but Benjamin was sure that it didn't feel good to have your face slammed into a hard floor.

"Would you leave him alone?" Hotch screamed. "Do what you want with me! Take me instead! Let him go!"

"Want to him next Joseph?" Benjamin asked. "I could always go for round two."

"He still looks strong."

"There's two of us, only one of him. We could take him easy," Benjamin argued. "What do you think big eyes?"

Benjamin pulled Reid's head up so he could look the kid in his eyes. His eyes really were beautiful. No one in his family had eyes that big, and Benjamin was slightly jealous. This guy really was pretty enough to be a girl.

As Benjamin was looking deep into the agent's eyes, Daniel strolled back in holding a big bowl of water. He walked right up to Hotch, and dumped half of the water on top of his head. Hotch clenched his eyes tight, and Benjamin stared at the water as it ran down the black hair. Daniel watched for a second, and then walked over to Reid. Joseph stepped back, and Daniel poured the rest of the water on top of Reid. Benjamin scooted back as to not get himself wet.

"What'd you do that for?" Benjamin yelled.

Daniel shrugged, took his bowl, and walked out. Benjamin shook the water off his hands, and looked out into the hallway. Daniel was nowhere to be seen.

"What the hell is his problem?" Joseph asked.

Reid had gone back against the wall, and was starting to shiver like Hotch was. Benjamin didn't care. Hyperthermia would be an interesting way to die. He never saw anyone freezer to death, and he heard it was something that could not forgotten. He just had never patience for it.

"I'm goin talk to that kid tonight. He needs to stop this shit," Benjamin said.

"I don't care if he's wet," Joseph said looking at Reid. "Him being wet will probably more fun. Don't you think dad?"

"Don't touch him," Hotch said weakly.

Benjamin was getting sick of that man. All he did was talk, and none of his talk was good. He just kept picking fights. This guy probably didn't have any friends where he came from. Benjamin kicked him as hard as he could directly into one of the open wounds in the agent's legged. Hotch closed his eyes, but he didn't scream.

"You need to shut your mouth until you're spoken to. Got it tough guy? I'm thinkin about getting you killed first. How do you feel about that?"

"Your son is dying," Reid said quietly.

* * *

><p>Rossi stood next to Morgan while the coroner did his work. They waited in the front room so the coroner wouldn't be making any mistakes with them hovering over him. Prentiss stayed behind at the crime scene to talk to the sheriff and deputies that finally arrived, and J.J. was doing her very best to console Garcia who burst into tears shortly after the principal left. Morgan said that he was proud of her for keeping it together until Mrs. White left, but she shouldn't have had to see the body at all.<p>

"Garcia should go back to the hotel," Rossi said. "I don't think she's going to be any help at all like she is."

"I'm not sending her anywhere by herself. It's too dangerous," Morgan said sharply.

Rossi knew that he was right. None of them needed to be going anywhere alone. She was safe where she was, and although she wasn't given the privacy she needed, nobody would hurt her. Morgan checked his phone right when the coroner came back.

"Do you two want to come back with me?" he asked gently.

Rossi didn't see his question as a choice, and followed the older man into the back room. Rossi hated the morgue. He wasn't fond of being around bodies, and even though he worked this job for as long as she could remember, but death always gave him chills. He kept imagining the bodies that were behind the small doors on the walls or what killed the person lying underneath the white cloth. He took them into a large room with three tables in the center. Two of them were empty, but Kate's body was in the third one.

"So I have to thank both of you for dragging me out in the snow to look at this," the coroner started. "I have never seen a body in this bad of shape before. Ever."

The blood was mostly wiped off on Kate's face, and her hair was brushed back, but it didn't really help the condition her body was in. There was no mistaking the dent in the side of her head. Rossi shuddered.

"What killed her?" Morgan asked plainly.

"Blow to the head is my first guess. I haven't gone into much detail, but I'm thinking it was a crowbar or something like that. Part of her face has caved in, and one of the eyeballs has fallen back into the head. Whatever he hit her with didn't kill her instantly though. She was awake for all of it."

"What else can you tell us?" Morgan asked.

"She hasn't been dead that long. A day maybe. No more than that. She was held in place by handcuffs or some kind of wire. Do you see the marks on her wrists?"

He pulled the sheet over her hands, and Rossi could see the marks from where he was standing. He didn't need to get any closer. Her fingernails were broken off, and the palms of her hands looked scratched up. Rossi didn't know how much longer he could look at her.

"There are identical marks on her ankles. I also found something else very interesting."

"The bruise on her ribcage?" Rossi asked from memory.

"Exactly," the doctor said. "I kept thinking how odd it was for her to have a massive bruise on her ribcage, but that's where the liver is located. Whoever had her knew that, and so they aimed every blow to the body in that direct spot. She had liver failure."

"So how long would she have lived if she got out?" Morgan asked.

"Not long," he said quietly. "We don't have the best hospital here. She would need to go to one in the city, and she didn't have much time from when this started happening."

"So would the person who did this have to know the human body well?" Morgan asked.

"No, not really. That's just basic anatomy. Going on with this, it doesn't look she has eaten in a while, but I did find some traces of food in her hair. It looked like hot dogs, but I'm not sure on that. I can't figure out how hot dogs got in her hair though."

"What were the scratches on her feet from?" Rossi asked. He remembered seeing several little scratches on her feet and ankles.

"My guess is running around outside. Those look like cuts from sticks or rocks from the forest."

"So she got outside?" Morgan asked.

"She was trying to escape," Rossi said. She tried to escape, they caught her, and killed her.

"We need to tell the others," Morgan said. "We need to get to the last names on the list. Tonight."

Morgan pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, and looked down at it to dial the numbers. Rossi glanced one last time at the body. This woman had been through so much before she died. And Reid and Hotch were STILL with the same people who did this to her.

"One last thing," Rossi said. "Was she raped?"

Morgan lowered his phone, and stepped forward. Rossi was positive that she was raped, but he needed it confirmed.

"She was raped before and after she died agents," the doctor said.

_dun dun dun! lots of fun with this chapter but its all started to wind down. so how much longer do u guys think this can go on? im thinking NOT much longer seeing as how they already have daniel's name on their list. and morgan is pissed. and kate's body was n terrible shape. poor kate. but i love daniel still. how many of u think u know what he has? reid does! lol. oh, and i do. somehow. haha. till next time! xoxoxox_


	20. Chapter 20

_here we are again my faithful readers. morgan and the team are getting ever closer to finding the family of crazies and daniel is getting stranger as the story moves along. so u guys still like him the best? u get 2 see a darker side 2 laura in this fun chapter so look forward 2 that. warnings: language (DUH), violence, sexual violence, all the fun stuff. so enjoy_

Daniel's head had never hurt so badly in his entire life. The headaches were more constant and more demanding than they ever were before. He couldn't keep any food at all in his stomach, and he had to sit more than usual. He wanted to go on long walks in the forest like he did in the past, but he just couldn't do it. He tried as hard as could, but he couldn't make it past just a few steps and it was killing him inside. He knew something was wrong. If he had the will to find out what was wrong with him, he would have spent hours and hours in the library to diagnose this disease, but he didn't want to know. If it was something that would end up killing him in the long run, he didn't think it would be better to know.

He always thought that he wasn't going to live as long as his brother. It was just something he felt when he was growing up. The thoughts had no basis in any reality, but he just knew that something was going to happen to him. Thinking back, Daniel was positive that this is what his subconscious predicted when he was younger. He was getting sicker, and without any health insurance or merciful doctors in the God-forsaken town, Daniel was going to die. His family probably wouldn't even care. He wouldn't be missed. He didn't have any friends, and he killed the one person who ever listened to him. He didn't know why he killed her. If he had the chance to do it over again, it would have ended differently. He missed his teacher terribly.

"How do you know about the dot in front of my eye?" Daniel asked quietly. He didn't want Joseph to hear what they were talking about.

"I don't," Reid answered. "I've been watching you though. You have been getting headaches for a long time, and it looks like you can barely keep your balance. You stumble around when you walk, and I've noticed that you haven't eaten anything at all since I've been here. You're very sick Daniel."

"Don't tell me," Daniel whispered back.

The agent sitting in front of him didn't look anything like he did when they found him. He seemed to be in a constant tremble from the dropping temperature in the house, and his once perfect body was now beaten and bruised. His hair hung in long strands around his face, and his puppy dog eyes looked even bigger against the agent's pale skin. He needed go the hospital, but unlike Daniel, the agent had health insurance.

"You need to see a doctor," Reid pressured.

"It's too late," Daniel argued back. He didn't want to hear any of it. He put his hand of one of Reid's knees, but the young man didn't seem to notice. Reid had focused all of his attention on Daniel, and Daniel wasn't appreciating it.

"Kate, Miss Parker, would want you to go. She wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

"She's dead. I killed her. She's dead, and she's not coming back. You didn't know her anyway. Did you know what my brother did to her? He was raping her on the couch, and she was screaming. I could hear her screams and I was all the way outside. That's how loud she was. I found her when she was trying to get away. She was hiding behind a tree, and both of her legs were bleeding really bad. Her feet looked like they hurt. I was going to leave her there, but then I found a crowbar just lying around. I grabbed her, and I killed her in front of everyone. It's a lot harder to kill someone than they make it look in the movies. Do you know that? I kept hitting her, but she just wouldn't die. So I hit her harder. Then she died."

"But you didn't want to kill her," Reid said.

"Shut up!" Daniel shouted. "You don't know me!"

A strong emotion was overcoming him, and his head felt like it was going to explode. Sharp pains were going through his brain, and he put both of his hands on his forehead to stop the pain. Why was this happening? Was this a strange punishment from God? God probably did want him to suffer. Daniel wasn't a kind person, and the evil were always punished. Daniel stood up quickly, lost his balance, and fell back down. Reid didn't say anything. Daniel shouldn't have been afraid to die. He was going to see Miss Parker again, but he was afraid. He was terrified. He stood up again, more slowly, and was able to stay on his feet.

"I'm sorry," Reid said looking down. "I really am."

"I'm going to die. Aren't I?" Daniel asked. He didn't want to know what was killing him, but he needed his own personal predictions confirmed.

"I'm not a medical doctor. I just read a lot, and I remember everything I've ever read," Reid started.

"Am I dying?" Daniel asked a little more loudly. He glanced at his brother to make sure he hadn't heard anything, but Joseph never looked up.

"Yes," Reid said looking back at him. "Unless you go see a doctor. You need to as soon as you can."

Daniel stumbled outside the kitchen door, and went as far as his legs would allow him. He made it as far as the tree that Miss Parker hid behind that cold night. He collapsed behind it, and cried. He cried and cried. He was going to die. It was just a matter of time, but his body would soon be rotting in a cemetery somewhere if his family could afford it.

"Miss Parker," he sobbed. "God, God, please help me."

He slammed a fist down on the root of the tree. The delicate skin on his hand broke open, and he watched the blood roll down his wrist.

"Damn it," he cursed.

He let his head fall back on the tree, and he looked up at the sky. Snow was falling steadily, but he couldn't feel the flakes hit his face. He didn't feel the cold around him, and he didn't mind at all that he forgot his shoes. All that he could think about was the dark sky. Was heaven really up there? Was God waiting for him? It took a while to get back to the kitchen where Reid was being held captive, but he just beat his parents back to the house.

* * *

><p>Garcia was wiping tears off her face once the principal left, but she couldn't dab her face fast enough. She couldn't believe what she had just seen. She knew that this kind of thing came with the job. She was warned so many times that this could happen, and she was always glancing at the photos that were handed over to the team. She was even a reluctant witness to what Reid went through the first time he was abducted, but nothing could have prepared her for this. She liked being protected. She liked Hotch and Morgan looking out for her. It was because of them that she never had to deal with this before, but Hotch was gone now. Morgan was working as hard as he could to find Hotch and Reid, and it was up to her to hold the fort up while they were gone, but she couldn't repress her emotions.<p>

"It's okay Garcia," J.J. said softly. "There was nothing you could do."

"Did you see her?" Garcia whined. "Did you? Her poor parents. What are they going to do? There was just so much blood, and she was younger than me! She was younger than me, and she had to go through that! And then Reid…Reid and Hotch are still with the people that did all of that to her. They are still with those MONSTERS. How do we know they aren't going to be next? I don't think I could handle finding one of them. I just couldn't."

"We're going to find Reid and Hotch. We're getting closer," Emily said gently.

"But we didn't make it in time to save the teacher. The principal was a total wreck. She didn't want to cry, but she had to. Can you imagine what she's going through? No, no, no, no, no."

She hugged tightly onto Emily, and sobbed loudly onto the other woman's shoulder. Emily accepted the hug, and rested her head on Garcia's shoulder. They were going to find Reid and Hotch. They were both coming home safe and sound, and they would tell her that they didn't even know who Kate Parker was so no one would have to tell them what happened to her.

"Did Rossi call you guys? Has he told you what killed her?"

"We can talk about that later," J.J. said.

Garcia knew that they were never going to willingly tell her what killed the young woman, and Garcia was positive that she never needed to know, but she knew what the other victims went through prior to death. She was right to assume that the teacher was given nothing but brutality and assault from the moment of abduction. As hard it was, she was trying to convince that Reid and Hotch were not getting hurt. They were not being beaten, and they would be home any minute. She would go crazy if she couldn't convince herself in some small way that her friends were alright.

"How close are you to finding the unsubs?" Garcia finally asked as she pulled away with a sniffle.

"We are sure that we will find them from the list of names, and there are only a few kids left. We probably would have arrested them by now if the storm hadn't happened," J.J. said.

"We will be heading back out as soon as Rossi and Morgan get back. It looks like the storm is letting up," Emily said standing up.

"You better find them tonight," Garcia said wiping her face. "I don't want to stay in this town any longer."

* * *

><p>Tommy Phelps never expected a visit from the FBI that night, but his family welcomed them in, and he answered every question honestly. He was scared for his teacher, and he wanted to do anything he could to help. He was thinking about asking more pertinent questions about the case itself, but once he looked closer at the wary faces that the agents wore, he knew he couldn't pressure them. He sat upstairs in his room after they left for a long time. He watched the grass in his yard disappear underneath the snow, and he twisted a pencil in between his fingers. He shared a room with one of his older brothers, but everyone else was downstairs getting ready for dinner. They had nothing else on their minds except for the food that would soon be in their stomachs. Tommy wasn't hungry.<p>

He forced his mind to go back to the day when the agents first came to town. He was in school that day. His mom dropped all of them off early because she had another appointment to get to, and he was joking around with a few friends before class started. Miss Parker introduced two agents, but Tommy still wasn't paying close attention. The agent that met with his family tonight was one of them. He wondered where the other one was, but Tommy would think about that later. He went back to the classroom in his head, and tried to pay attention to everything. Agent Morgan was walking up and down the rows of desks, and the other agent stayed up front with the teacher. The other one was skinny. He didn't really look like he worked for the FBI. Not all of the students were paying attention. They were probably worried about the Math test later that day, but Tommy was listening by that point.

Tommy looked around at the other students. One of the girls left to talk with Agent Morgan outside, and the other agent talked to the teacher. Most of the students had returned to their normal behavior when discipline wasn't enforced. They were talking loudly, copying down homework assignments, and the class bullies were going back to taunting other students. Their favorite in this class was a skinny kid called Daniel. Tommy never talked to him, but they didn't really belong to the same crowd. Daniel rarely fought back against the older kids, and he never once caused problems in class so Tommy never thought about him, but Daniel had been looking strange. His skin didn't look well taken care of, and the clothes he wore started looking bigger on him over the past few weeks. It was so strange that he never once noticed how much weight the kid had lost since the beginning of the school year. Something was wrong.

Tommy pulled out an old yearbook from his desk, and shuffled through the pages to find the group of kids he was with. He found Daniel's photo easily, and he could have hit himself for not seeing how skinny that kid got. His eyes were dark, and Tommy didn't feel comfortable staring at the photo for long. He shut the book, and tried to recall the rest of that day. The bullies were talking amongst each other for a change, but Daniel didn't seem to care. He was staring at the young agent like he was a white elephant that had wandered into the room. He just stared and stared, and the agent didn't even seem notice. Something felt seriously wrong.

He grabbed a jacket off of his bed, and laced the boots tight around his calves. He was going outside. Daniel didn't live that far off, and it wasn't that long of a walk by taking the forest instead of the main road. Like most of the other kids there, Tommy grew up with the big trees and knew the forest like the back of his hand. He put his cell phone in one of the pockets of the jacket, and ran down the carpeted stairs.

"I'm going out. I'll be back soon," he told his mother.

"You're going out now? I was just finishing dinner," she told him.

"I know. I'll be back soon. I just want to check something out," Tommy said.

He hurried into the kitchen, kissed his mother on the cheek, and grabbed a breadstick that was already on the table. It looked like they were having spaghetti for dinner.

"Call me if you need a ride," she said smiling.

"Love you," he said.

He waved to her, acknowledged his two brothers who were sitting on the couch, and he went out the front door. The snow wasn't falling that hard, but he was used to it. He was sure that someone who was experienced wouldn't be able to make it. He jumped over fallen logs, and made sure not to trip over any hidden stones. The way he was taking wasn't defined by a trail or a small road, and he was sure that it would be a million times safer if it was, but that was the fun of taking this route. This town was one of the few left in America that had yet to be entirely destroyed by man. He did love to explore the mysteries that the forest held, but he couldn't wait to move. He wanted something more in life. He wasn't going to end up in construction like his dad, and he wasn't going to stay in this town forever like his brothers. He didn't know what he was going to do. He was still young enough to not have a definite plan, but after talking with the agents, he thought the BUA could be a possible career choice. He always loved psychology, and he figured himself brave enough to work out on the field. He wanted a job that helped people, and the FBI fell under that category.

The snow was falling a lot heavier about 45 minutes later when he finally reached his destination. It usually didn't take that long, but the snow slowed him down. The temperature was dropping outside, and he needed to take more breaks. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to call his mom after he checked Daniel out for a ride home. It was a lot smarter than getting caught in a snow storm. He wouldn't mind staying at Daniel's house during the storm, but he heard rumors about Daniel's family. He heard stories that Daniel's parents were actually siblings, and that the father of the house still believed the earth was flat. Tommy didn't know what basis any of these tales held, but it wasn't easy to forget.

The house wasn't that close to the main road. He couldn't see the road at all, but he blamed it on the snow. They weren't that far from civilization. When he was younger, the other boys used to tell each other that this house was haunted. There wasn't a real yard, the wood holding the house together looked like it was falling apart, and Tommy swore that at least two of the windows were broken. He couldn't see any broken windows now, but his childhood self swore on it. It took weeks of convincing Tommy and his friends that the two boys they saw coming out of the house one day weren't ghosts. A few of them were still scared of Daniel and his older brother when they first started going to the regular school in town. They did look like ghosts, and that might be part of the reason that Tommy never chose to form a relationship with them. Either way, the kids learned that the brothers were fully human, and Joseph even went on to form several friendships with a few of the boys, but Daniel never did. He just never fit in.

He walked closer to the house, and was about to text his mom his location when he noticed something dangling on part of a tree. It looked like it belonged to a necklace. It was a little flower with a pink center, and Tommy couldn't believe that it was still here after the growing storm. Someone had placed it on the torn bark of the tree, and it survived Mother Nature. Tommy was about to put in his pocket when he recognized it. Miss Parker wore it. She was wearing it the last day he saw her. This was part of her necklace. He left it there because he was afraid of tampering with evidence or something, but how did her necklace get all of the way out here? She didn't live anywhere near there. He looked at Daniel's house again, and a growing sense of dread started building in his gut.

Tommy wasn't going to approach the house. He didn't need any more proof. There wasn't any logical explanation about how a missing woman's necklace ended up perfectly placed on tree bark. It just didn't happen. He was going to get away from the house, call his mom to pick him up, and talk to the agents as soon as he physically could. This was probably the kid of information they were looking for. Tommy couldn't believe that Daniel would want to hurt their teacher. He didn't seem like that kind of guy, but Tommy never met his parents and from what Tommy heard, Daniel's parents were capable of murdering an innocent woman.

He turned around, and started on the way back. He wished that he had taken the card that Agent Morgan gave him, but he didn't think he would find anything serious at Daniel's house. He thought that he might witness some abuse from father to son, but not find part of a necklace that belonged to a missing woman. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, and started texting his mom. He knew that it was stupid to text his mom while he was walking in a forest with a setting sun, but he needed a ride. He barely got one word in when he heard something behind him.

Tommy never saw what hit him. He managed to turn around in time to see someone standing there, but that's all that he registered. Something hard hit him on the side of the head, and he fell down on impact. His head exploded with pain that was foreign to him. He had never been hit that hard in his entire life, and it was pure agony. He looked up to see his attacker when he saw some kind of silver bar come down again. He covered up his head, but the bar collided with such force against one of his arms that he heard something crack. Tommy screamed. He didn't know where his phone fell to in the struggle, but he used his free arm to feel around the forest floor for it. He only needed to dial 3 numbers to get help. The weapon came down for a second time on his aching arm, and Tommy screamed again when he felt the bone inside shatter. It wasn't doing much protection to his bleeding head, and he couldn't find the stupid phone.

The attacker never said one word to Tommy. Not one word. When the bar came down upon the teenager again, his broken arm didn't do anything to protect his skull from the blow. His bleeding hand fell from Tommy's aching brain, and the attacker went wild. The blows became faster and faster, harder and harder. Tommy tried to stay strong. He tried to kick his legs out on the person causing the pain, but he was losing strength with each hit. He didn't give up feeling for his phone until he felt his blood pour out of his mouth like a stream. He couldn't stop it from coming, and the pain was unbearable. Each blow took his breath away, and his vision was getting smokier by the second. He didn't think he was dying though. His mind kept telling him that the attacker would get bored, and Tommy would spend a few weeks in the hospital to recover. Death didn't even seem like an option for the teenage boy, but it came. Sometime during the beating, Tommy stopped breathing. His body continued to twitch, but Tommy was gone. The murderer continued to beat Tommy even after he was dead.

* * *

><p>"Your son is dying," Reid said quietly.<p>

His thin frame was shivering from the cold, and each water droplet from his hair felt like sharp knives on his flesh. What were the symptoms of hypothermia? Confusion and slow movements? Reid was having a hard time remembering, but he easily blamed it on the fact that had just been brutally raped in front of his boss, and that he was sitting in a room with armed psychopaths. It was normal to feel the way that he did, but his entire body was shaking. All he wanted was a blanket. The fetal position he was in wasn't warming him up at all.

"My son ain't dyin!" Benjamin said loudly with a laugh. "Look at him! He looks well and dandy to me!"

"You know who I'm talking about," Reid answered. He didn't care if Benjamin wanted to learn the truth. He was sure that Benjamin and Laura knew something was wrong with their younger son. They just didn't want to face it.

"Nothing is wrong with my boys," Benjamin growled. "They are both healthy and strong."

Reid didn't answer. He wasn't in any kind of condition to sit there and argue with a raging alcoholic. His rear end felt like it was on fire, and any little movement sent sharp and agonizing pains up his body. As terrible as that was, he was still more concerned about the very likely possibility that he was suffering from hypothermia. He was positive that he was. His body was starting to jerk in-between the constant shivering, and his thoughts were getting lost in his head. He looked over at Hotch, and it looked the older man was going through the same thing that he was going through. It wouldn't have been so bad if Daniel didn't constantly throw freezing water on top of them.

"See? You got nothin to say cause you know I'm right"! Benjamin shouted.

Benjamin walked over to Reid, and kicked him in the side. Reid cried out from the pain, but he would welcome it if it brought some kind of warmth to his body. He had never been so cold in his entire life.

"Is it my turn yet?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah, go ahead," Benjamin mumbled. "Where the hell did your brother go?"

Joseph grabbed Reid by the hair, and after a small struggle, he pulled the agent back to the center of the room. Reid was kicking his legs out, and trying to aim punches toward Joseph's face, but his body wasn't cooperating with him. Joseph punched him in his already black eye, and that ended Reid's attempts for freedom.

"Stop fucking asking me that!" Joseph yelled. "Stop! I ain't got no idea where he is!"

"You need to watch him," Benjamin said. "He's your little brother."

Benjamin went out into the hallway, and Reid was back to fighting the teenager. Joseph was trying to get Reid on his stomach, but the agent wasn't going down without a fight. Reid found his voice and was shouting something, anything, to get the kid off of him, but it wasn't working. His hands were still cuffed behind his back so trying to hit him was useless, and both of his legs were shivering uncontrollably. Reid did manage to kick one of his knees in Joseph's stomach, but the kid acted fast. He formed his hand into a fist, and pounded the fisted hand into the bruise on Reid's chest three times. Reid couldn't scream.

"Let go!" Hotch was weakly shouting. "Let go…let…let HIM go!"

Joseph flipped Reid on his stomach, and forced his legs apart. Reid found some hidden strength in his fear. He bucked his hips off the ground, but Joseph took a hold of Reid's head. He slammed Reid's head down on the floor again and again. Reid felt himself losing consciousness, and he almost blacked out but then he felt more freezing water fall on his body.

Daniel was standing over him and Joseph with a bucket in his hands. Reid looked over at Hotch and saw that his superior was also dripping wet. Reid looked back up at Daniel, and noticed that the teenager had blood over his arms. Splattered blood. The blood didn't belong to Daniel. Benjamin and Laura were both standing behind him, and from the look on their faces, Reid knew that none of this was planned. They were losing control of one of their boys.

"What happened to you boy?" Benjamin asked.

Reid didn't see the crowbar anywhere, but he was positive that Daniel killed someone else. He found someone in the woods, but who? Reid's heart was pounding. It could be Morgan. Or Prentiss. Or Rossi. Or J.J. Daniel knew this place better than any of them. It would be easy to sneak up behind one of them with a crowbar, and with a hard enough hit, they would be down. Reid didn't notice it then, but he stopped shivering. His muscles were becoming rigid from the extreme cold, and it wouldn't be long before he lost consciousness.

"Went on a walk," Daniel said.

"Was someone else in the woods?" Laura asked slowly.

"You killed someone!" Joseph said standing up. Reid was grateful that the heavier body was off of him, but he was scared. He was scared for his team looking for them. He was scared of Hotch freezing to death. He was terrified. He wasn't going to let any of them die for him.

"Who did you kill?" Benjamin asked more firmly. "Was it a cop? Was it one of the agents?"

"Who did you kill you shitface?" Joseph shouted.

"A boy," Daniel replied with such a sense of calm that it sent chills down Reid's spine.

"Who?" Laura asked.

"He's in my class at school. Well, he was in a class at school. He sat near me in Miss Parker's class. I think she liked him better than me. I didn't like him. He was harder to kill than she was. I don't know why. He kept moving, but he's dead now so I brought some more water back from the lake. I almost fell, but I didn't."

"Oh Daniel," Laura whispered.

Reid couldn't believe how fast Daniel was going. The boy looked only like half of what he was earlier. He could barely stand on his own two feet. He was pale with haunting dark circles underneath his eyes. He almost fell down when he was standing there.

"He's still…he's there. I didn't know what to do with the body. I was brought, I was going to brought…" Daniel stammered. He looked frustrated, and Reid almost felt something for the boy at that second.

"I almost brought him home," Daniel finished quickly.

"Glad you didn't," Benjamin said.

"But the body is still out there. People could find him…We need to get him out of there. Why did you kill him?" Laura asked.

"I don't know," Daniel said.

"He's going to start attracting animals," Laura said. "We're going to have to do something with him."

"I'll grab him Ma," Joseph said. "Never liked that son of bitch. Good going Daniel. Just point me in the right direction."

The two kids left the freezer, and Reid somehow got himself back on his butt. He was finally realizing the stiffness in his muscles, and he knew something was terribly wrong. Reid wanted to scoot over to Hotch to see if they were in the same situation, but he didn't want to draw attention to either one of them so he stayed put.

"What's wrong with him?" Benjamin asked after an awkward moment of silence.

"He needs…." Reid started. His thinking wasn't clear anymore, and thoughts weren't forming. He needed to get out of the freezer. "Tumor," Reid said. "On his…brain. He needs a….doctor…maybe cancer. Brain cancer."

"He has brain cancer?" Laura asked.

Reid didn't know for sure. He didn't want to be calling out any kind of medical terms when the boy hadn't been fully examined, but he did have most of the symptoms. Reid knew that the high school junior was going to die if he saw a doctor or not. Reid shook his head in agreement to get them off his back, and he laid his head down on his knees.

"We can take him to a doctor tomorrow," Laura said. "But I don't like goin all the way to one of them nosy doctors just because a virgin dweeb said he's sick."

"We don't have to," Benjamin said.

"We can take him to be sure, but I got myself another idea for now," she said smiling. She wrapped her arms over her chest to keep herself warm, and approached the two agents. Reid didn't look up. "Let's have some interesting fun with them two."

"Whatcha mean?" Benjamin asked.

"Let's have Mister Hollywood do the kid. That'd be interesting, wouldn't it? I don't think they got enough of that in them movies."

"But Joseph wanted to," Benjamin began.

"No!" Laura shouted. "No! I want Hollywood to do virgin. Now."

"I won't," Hotch said in a low whisper. "Shoot me."

Laura smiled sickly sweet, and got on her knees next to Hotch. She leaned down close to him, and pressed a hard kiss against one of his cheeks. She smiled once again with her yellow teeth showing, and twirled a piece of his hair with her finger.

"I won't shoot you honey bee. You's much too handsome to die with a bullet. Oh no. If you don't do him, we're goin kill him. And it won't be a bullet. I'll just call Daniel back in here with the crowbar, and we'll kill the kid in front of you."

* * *

><p>Morgan was ready to go the second he got back. The snow was already letting up, and they were losing the sun behind the trees. He wasn't fond of the idea of hunting for psychopaths by moonlight, but he wasn't going to let Hotch and Reid spend one more night alone. They got Garcia safely back to the hotel, and Morgan personally asked the staff there to look after her. He didn't like leaving her, but the rest of them were going to travel together. When they found the unsubs, the family of lunatics, they were going to be armed and they were going to be dangerous. They would need to work together to take them down, but Morgan knew there was going to be causalities. There would be a standoff, and people would die, but they wouldn't be his friends.<p>

"Are we going to all of these names tonight?" Rossi asked. He was sitting in the front seat with Morgan. The women were sitting in the back. The heater was on full blast, and Morgan had the windshield wiper going full blast to keep the snow off it.

"Hotch and Reid are going off of borrowed time," Morgan said. "We need to get them."

"With our luck, it's probably going to be the last name on the list," J.J. said with a weak smile.

Morgan didn't say anything. There wasn't anything to say. A winter wonderland outside was getting ready for the upcoming holidays, but no one was outside. No one. People weren't turning on their lights for their businesses, and Morgan wasn't passing any other cars. It was eerie. The phone buzzing in his pocket made him jump, but the others didn't notice.

"Morgan," he said regaining his composure.

"Hey agent," the sheriff said. "I don't know if this means anythin, but it probably does. A mother just called me. She's frantic. Her kid went out about an hour ago, and she hasn't heard from him since. He's not answerin her calls, and he said he'd be home for dinner. Which I guess he missed."

"He's a teenager?" Morgan asked. It was odd for a guy to go missing. It seemed like the crazy family only abducted men when they were with women. Or if they were agents.

"Yeah," the sheriff said. "He was in Miss Parker's class, and I'm pretty sure he was one of the boys you wanted to talk to."

"What's his name?"

"Tommy Phelps," the sheriff said.

Morgan had just spoken to Tommy a few hours ago. He liked the kid. He was smart, and he was the apple in his mother's eye. How the hell did this happen? Did the unsub know that the FBI was talking to him? Is that why he was taken?

"Did his mother know where he was going to?" Morgan asked.

"He didn't tell her. It's part of the reason she's freaking out," the sheriff answered.

"Thanks," Morgan said and put the phone back in his pocket.

"What happened to Tommy?" J.J. asked.

"He's missing. His mom said he went out an hour ago, and now he's not answering his phone."

"What do you think happened?" Rossi asked.

"Did the unsub see us talking to him? I didn't see anyone else there though, and I was looking," J.J. said.

"What if he just thought of something else on his own?" Prentiss offered. "After you left, he started thinking on his own and went to confront the unsub on his own."

"Who lives the closest to Tommy?" Morgan asked.

"There are two houses that are relatively close," Rossi said looking down at a map. "Elijah Andrews lives about 10 minutes away, and Daniel Bates lives about 25 minutes away on foot."

"We're going to those houses first," Morgan announced. "Elijah and Daniel. When we get there, keep a lookout around the area. If Tommy did wander over there by himself, he was probably found outside."

Morgan really did pray that nothing happened to the young man. He confided to Morgan that he wanted to build ships when he was a little boy, but his passions were changing as he grew older. He didn't know what he wanted to do exactly, but he wanted to help people. Morgan joked with him that if he did go back to his dream of making ships, he owed Morgan a free trip. If something happened to Tommy, Morgan knew that he was going to blame himself. He knew it wouldn't be reasonable, but he never told Tommy to not approach the unsubs if he figured out who it was. He never told Tommy how dangerous they really were.

"We should still keep the possibilities open that he is with a friend or that the unsubs abducted him. If one of those two did happen, he is probably still alive," Rossi said.

"If he was with a friend, he'd be answering his phone," J.J. said.

"But if he is abducted, Reid and Hotch wouldn't have much time left," Prentiss said softly.

Morgan pressed down on the gas, and sped ahead. He wasn't going to think about any of that. He was going to find all three of them, and they were going to be alive.

* * *

><p>Joseph wandered out into the forest in the direction that his brother pointed. He didn't offer to take his younger brother with him. He really didn't want to be around Daniel any longer than necessary. He didn't know what was wrong with him, but he didn't really care either. If his brother needed to spend a month in the hospital, it didn't matter. What Joseph was looking forward to was prom that year. After Christmas, prom came right up. Joseph did have a long list of stuff he wanted, but he was smart enough to know that he wasn't going to get shit. His lazy ass dad didn't work, and his mom liked to work from home. They would probably only get stuff if they found someone besides teenagers to kidnap. After Christmas, he would start looking at the girls to ask for prom. If he didn't find a hottie soon, all the good ones would get taken.<p>

Joseph walked past the frozen lake, and started looking closer at the bushes and shrubs to find the body. Daniel said it was near here. It was getting dark, but he wasn't afraid. He just had to get rid of the body so no one else would find it. He looked behind a few trees, and even checked the snow for footprints, but he didn't get any luck. He never liked Tommy. Joseph was a year older than him, but he saw the kid around sometimes. He came from an upper class family. The dad didn't have the best job, but the grandparents some left some huge ass inheritance and Joseph was positive that they would be living off that soon enough. Tommy and his brothers would never have to work a day in their lives. He hated them for that.

He turned around to search the other side of the lake when he spotted a hand coming out from a frozen shrub. It didn't even look real. It looked like it belonged to some creepy ass mannequin from the mall. Joseph made sure his gloves were on tight, and walked over to the shrub. The body of Tommy Phelps was behind it. He was dressed in long boots, dark jeans, and some fancy rich person jacket. Joseph wanted it. Joseph lifted the body up, and unzipped the jacket. He was going to be wearing it as soon as he could get all of the blood out of it. Daniel didn't tell them how much he really beat this guy. Tommy's handsome face was unrecognizable. Joseph tied the jacket around his waist, and kicked the body. Rich or poor: everybody ended up the same in the end. He started dragging the body when he thought about how badly he needed new boots.

After stripping Tommy of his socks, boots, and tee shirt, Joseph dragged him over to the lake. He lifted the frozen corpse over his shoulders, and threw it as hard as he could in the lake. It broke through the ice, and Joseph made sure it sank into the murky depths before he walked away. He wasn't going to leave any trace behind. He used a fallen tree branch to wipe away the long marks from the dragging, and he took large piles of snow to cover up the bloody marks that Daniel left behind. By the time he was done, not even the super smart agents would be able to know anything more that animals mating took place here.

As he was walking back, he heard a tree branch snap. He knew it wasn't an animal. He just knew. He tossed the boots and clothing behind a log, and turned around to find the source. Who the hell would be walking around this late? If he listened hard enough, he could hear the footprints. Whoever it was, they were coming closer.

"Tommy?" Peter called out.

"Peter?" Joseph asked. What would he be doing out here?

Peter came out from the darkness, and it looked like he was holding a little riffle. Peter always was a good hunter, but whenever he got a good shot lately, he didn't take it. He was a perfect shot, but he didn't like killing animals. Joseph just figured that Peter liked to look hot in front of the girls.

"Hey Joseph!" Pete said. He high fived Joseph and smiled. "Did you see Tommy out here? I saw him a while ago heading to your house and I couldn't figure out why so I came to see. Did he already leave? What did he want?"

"Haven't seen him," Joseph said easily. "Why would he want to see me? We ain't friends."

"That's what I thought! But I'm totally sure it was him. I saw those boots and I knew it was him."

"Maybe he was just pretending to hunt like you are," Joseph said smiling.

"I'm not hunting!" Peter said. "I was actually coming to your house anyway. I got a text message from Elijah's big sister. You won't believe what is happening over there."

Joseph sat down on a log and stretched out his legs. It was freezing, and he needed to keep the blood flowing. He didn't care what was happening at Elijah's house. He never liked that guy either. Bad things do happen to jerks.

"What?" Joseph asked him.

"The FBI is over there!"

Joseph stopped and looked up. The FBI was over there? That wasn't good news at all.

"Why?" Joseph managed to ask.

"I guess they're talking to a bunch of guys all over town. I think it has something to do with all the murders and dead people they found. They're askin Elijah all kinds of questions, and then I started asking other people. They didn't like ask everybody, but they're askin lots of people and I'm betting they are going to come to your house next. You don't live that far from Elijah."

"Why would they come here?"

"I think they're goin be talkin to a lot of people that were in Parker's class. She went missing, and so did Audrey, and since you live near Elijah, it makes sense. I'm sure if they interviewed anyone from that class, they'd be talkin about how weird your brother is."

"Yeah, you're tellin me," Joseph said.

"So I'm just givin you a heads up," Pete said. "I'd make sure my brother was gone if I were you. And my dad. You have one weird dad dude."

"He's crazy," Joseph admitted.

"Let's do something tomorrow night though. I heard there's a new horror movie coming out and it supposed to be really scary. Like nightmare scary. I was thinkin we could invite some girls and make it a really interesting night," Pete said smiling.

"Sure dude," Joseph said standing up. "Just let me know. I'm goin be heading back. I'm starving, and Ma is cookin something good tonight."

Pete waved him off, and Joseph tried to remember where he hid the rest of Tommy's things. He just had to remember not to wear them near Peter. Peter would never forget.

"Hey, Joseph?" Peter called out.

"What?" Joseph yelled back never revealing his location. He found Tommy's stuff, and he wasn't about to lose them again.

"They found Parker's body I heard. In front of the town hall or something, and she was in really bad shape. Like REALLY bad shape."

"How do they know it was her?"

"I don't know man, but you know what? I heard she was raped," Peter shouted over the growing breeze. Joseph felt a lump in his throat. He wanted to get back home as soon as possible.

* * *

><p>Hotch had never felt this way before. He was exhausted, freezing, and his legs weren't clotting like they should be. He was trying to not let on how he was feeling, but it was getting harder. He didn't let anyone know how badly he was shivering, but now that it stopped, he was even more worried. What was he going to do? It wouldn't be so bad if Daniel didn't keep pouring cold water over him. It was killing him. He was having trouble staying awake, and after the alcoholic pushed Reid to the side, he was afraid that he was going to fall asleep. He was just so tired. He didn't remember the last time he even took a nap. That could also be attributed to Daniel's pleasant trips to the freezer. Hotch would have been asleep by now if Laura's sick mind hadn't come into play. His stomach rolled when she got near him, but when she suggested hurting Reid, his heart stopped.<p>

"I'm not going…going…to touch him," Hotch found himself saying through his freezing body.

"So you just want me to call Daniel back in here? He will kill him you know. He's been asking us from the second we got you guys when he could the skinny one."

"He won't kill Reid," Hotch whispered. He was losing his voice and fast. "He…likes Reid."

"He liked his teacher too," Laura said smiling. She put one of her hands on Hotch's chest, and moved her hand down. "And I can promise you that when he does kill Doctor Reid, there will be blood. Lots and lots of blood. And you'll be the only one to blame….all because you're afraid of a little intimate action between you and a young man."

"He's sick," Reid said in a voice that didn't sound anything like the Reid that Hotch knew. They were both going to die if the team didn't get there soon. They couldn't last much longer.

"You have no say in this virgin!" Laura shouted. "Decide now Hollywood!"

Hotch coughed, and looked at Reid. The boy genius wasn't shivering either anymore, but both of them were still dripping with the ice cold water. The bruise on his chest didn't look any better than Kate's did before she died, and Hotch didn't know if he was seeing it right, but Reid's lips looked like they were tinted with blue. He couldn't physically do what he was being asked to do.

"Daniel! Come in here sweetie pie," Laura yelled out. "Bring that crowbar of yours baby!"

_so u guys enjoy it? what happened to tommy was totally not planned. daniel just wanted to do it so i let him. im kinda a sucker for characters i make up. poor tommy tho. i liked him. but ya. plz review and lemme know what u think! and if u r reading my other story, secrets of the manor, i plan to have that one updated on sunday. my sister wants me 2 babysit so we'll see how that goes. cross ur fingers! xoxo_


	21. Chapter 21

_this chapter is up sooner than i thought. i finished secrets of the manor, and so now i have more time to focus on just this. of course, im already thinking about a sequel for manor becuz im awsum like that. anyways, lots of warnings for this chapter. mostly language becuz the people in this family know little more than curse words but there is also sexual um...non con i guess u can say and um major angst so watch out._

Hotch didn't say anything as Benjamin pulled him off the wall, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, the handcuffs were taken off. He couldn't escape though. He wasn't able to walk on his own anymore. He could barely move. Reid got himself into a sitting position, but he didn't look comfortable. He was looking down, and Hotch knew that the boy genius was past the point of caring. It broke Hotch's heart. They were both going to die there. Reid was still bleeding from when Joseph raped him. Reid didn't say anything, but Hotch knew how badly it had to hurt.

"I'm not going…to…touch him," Hoch said firmly.

Reid didn't look at him. All of this was Hotch's fault. He should have gotten Reid out of there when he knew how dangerous it was. He knew that the unsubs wanted Reid, and he didn't go out of his way to keep the younger man from harm. It was Hotch's mistake, but they were both going to have to pay for it. Hotch put his head against the wall to stop an upcoming headache, but that's when he heard footsteps coming from down the hall.

"You wanted me Ma?" Daniel asked quietly asked he poked his head in.

"Yeah, it's time to get rid of the virgin. He's just getting in the way," Laura said.

Benjamin got in front of Hotch, and took hold of Reid by his hair. He grabbed a handful of it, and pulled Reid away from the chief leader. The kid was still struggling against all odds, but he wasn't going to be able to defend himself. If Hotch didn't do what they told him to, it would all be over. Daniel was already holding that damned crowbar, and Hotch felt like crying. He didn't have a choice. He was so cold, and he was getting scared. He didn't know what to do.

"Stop," Hotch said weakly. He pushed himself away from the wall, and got on his knees. "I'll do it. I'll do…it…just let him…go."

Laura laughed loudly, and slapped her palms together. Benjamin dropped Reid, and kicked the agent toward Hotch. Hotch scooted closer to the boy genius, and put a comforting hand on one of his shoulders. Hotch wasn't seeing things earlier. The kid's lips were tinted blue, and it was one of the scariest things that Hotch had ever seen in his life. Why wasn't Reid given a choice? Why did it all have to fall Hotch?

"Come on then, get on with it!" Laura said. "Turn around your skinny ass so your big Hollywood boss guy can show you how real men act."

"Can you please…take off his…handcuffs?" Hotch asked weakly. He couldn't stand seeing the boy's hands chained together. The wrists were badly bruised and the fingernails were broken off. It wasn't fair that Hotch's hands were finally free when Reid still had to suffer.

"No way," Laura said.

"Do him aleady," Benjamin said leaning against a wall. "You keep putting it off."

"I'm not going to hurt you," Hotch whispered.

"They didn't give….give you that option," Reid whispered back.

Hotch nodded to himself, and saw that the crazies were just standing around, waiting. Daniel had disappeared again, but the mother and father were looking anxious for the show to begin. Were they just going to kill them anyway after Hotch did this? He couldn't imagine them just letting Reid go when they were done, but it might buy them more time. Reid deserved his life. If they wanted to kill someone, it needed to be Hotch. He caused all of this, and now he was going to hurt Reid even more.

Hotch moved his hand down Reid's shoulder and onto his shoulder blades, but it was Hotch who recoiled his hand. He just couldn't do it. This was Reid. The kid trusted him with his life. How could he betray him like this? He heard Laura laughing, and Hotch looked down.

"So you're ready to kill him now?" Laura asked with a big smile. "This will be fun either way. I heard that my boy has fun with people even after they die, if ya know what I mean!"

Hotch glared at the woman who may have been from the surface of hell itself. They wanted him to make Reid bleed. They wanted him to suffer, and Hotch just couldn't understand why. He couldn't. His body was just so cold. His muscles weren't working the way they were supposed to, and he didn't think he would even be able to get himself turned on unless he was warmer. What would happen if that was the case? Would they be killed?

Reid was looking at him with big puppy dog eyes, and Hotch didn't know how he would ever be able to get through this. He put his hand back on Reid's stiff shoulder, and closed his eyes. He kept telling himself that he would be able to picture that Reid was someone else, anyone else, but that was impossible. He knew Reid too well for that.

"Come on! Fuck him now!" Laura shouted.

"Just do it," Reid said quietly. "I…don't want…want to die. Please."

Hotch moved behind Reid, and guided his hand down the boy's slender back. Hotch avoided the bloody marks left on his back from what Benjamin did to him, and Hotch's heart dropped when he had to see the handcuffed hands again. Reid's hands were lying useless on his back. They weren't struggling at all against the unwanted touch. Hotch would rather be killed than do this.

He got his hand right above Reid's rear end, and stopped. All of it was going to be over soon. It wouldn't take that long, and they would be allowed to go on with their lives when it was finished. It would have been easier if Reid wasn't so beat up. The young man's butt cheeks were badly bruised, and his thighs were still stained with dark blood. Hotch was scared of touching him because every touch was probably pure agony, but what could he do? Hotch finally put one hand upon the agent's butt cheek, and put his other hand on himself. None of this was going to work at all if he stayed as limp as he was. He could barely control his hand though. The muscles were stiff, and they refused to cooperate with him for the most part, and it wasn't getting any easier. Water was still dripping off his dark hair, and his breathing felt shallow. He needed to get out of that freezer.

It took a few minutes just to get a proper grip, and he had to use most of his strength to get the stroking the way it needed to be. He added his other hand to help get the blood flowing, but it was also just to stop touching Reid. The young man felt like a corpse. He was breathing too slowly, and the skin was tough. Where was the team? They had to have still been looking for them. They had to.

"Hold on," Hotch whispered to Reid.

Reid didn't say anything, but Hotch figured there was nothing to say. What could you possibly say to someone that was about to violate the most sacred part of your body? Hotch had to stop thinking about that. He had to stop thinking about anything or he would never get this over with. It took a while, but he was finally hard enough to do what they asked of him. He was ashamed that he was able to get on. How could his body barely be able to move, but it was still able to think about sex? He moved back into position between Reid's bony legs, and used one of his hands to pull the legs further apart.

He would have suggested Reid getting on his knees, but he didn't. He wasn't going to humiliate the boy any further by exposing him even more to their audience. He was just going to work with what he had. He placed one of his hands back on the cold flesh, and moved his fingers down to the entrance. It was wet, and it disgusted him. He withdrew his fingers quickly, and wiped his hands on the floor. The blood came off easy enough because he was wet, but his heart was pounding. He wasn't going to test Reid or see how loose the boy was. He was just going to go for it and hope for the best, but if Reid made any cries of any kind, Hotch was gone.

Hotch positioned himself in front of the entrance, and slowly pushed himself into the tip. The muscles were extremely tight around him, and he felt himself ripping up the already damaged tissue further. Reid gasped, but he didn't say anything. Hotch waited for a second, as the warm blood gathered around his member, but Reid stayed quiet so Hotch pushed in further. The flesh never loosened up, and while the tight heat felt glorious around Hotch's manhood, he couldn't help but look down at the trembling body underneath him. The longer he was in there, the longer Reid would have to suffer.

He pulled himself back out to the tip, and pushed himself back in all the way. Reid was making soft whimpers, and Hotch made sure he was as gentle as possible. He didn't move as rough as he would have liked, but Reid's well-being was all that mattered. Hotch found a rhythm of his own soon enough, and closed his eyes while he pushed and pushed. He was going to come sooner than he expected, and all would have gone as well as one could except, but that's when Hotch heard footsteps coming down the hallway.

"Daniel, what are you doing?" Laura asked quickly.

Hotch looked up in time just to see Daniel pour a bucket of freezing water on top of Reid's bare back. Hotch pulled himself out just as the water hit Reid's skin, and Reid screamed. Daniel didn't bother to take any chunks of ice out of the water this time around, and all of it hit Reid's flesh like pointed daggers. Reid curled his body up to protect it from any further damage, but the damage was done. Reid was lying in a puddle of fresh blood and icy water, and it was killing him. Hotch looked back up at Daniel. The kid was still standing there holding the bucket, his eyes fixated on Reid. Hotch lunged forward to attack. He didn't know what he was thinking, but he had to protect his friend. He had to protect Reid. He wasn't going to let Reid get hurt anymore, but Hotch wasn't in any kind of shape to fight. Daniel took a step back, and poured the rest of the water right on Hotch's head. Hotch closed his eyes, but the water burned. His mouth opened sharply to take a deep breath, and he fell back on his hands.

"What was that for?" Benjamin asked.

"Now it will be more like having sex with a dead body," Daniel said proudly. "See? He's colder now. Like a dead…dead people…dead person. Dead person. Reid is like dead person now."

"He will be a dead person soon if you don't watch it," Benjamin said.

"We can't have him dead yet! They's goin give us a sexy show, and I ain't turned on by dead people. Do it again Hollywood!"

Hotch was trying frantically to get the ice out of his hair. His fingers were shaking again, and the painful headache was trying to come back. He backed against the wall, and raised his knees to his chest to try and keep his body heat with him. Reid was lying in a fetal position where Hotch left him. How long did it take for someone to freeze to death? Hotch figured that it wasn't long.

"Do it again!" Laura screamed.

"What?" Hotch asked weakly. All of the voices seemed so far away. He didn't know what was happening, but he didn't feel like he was on the same planet as them.

"Fuck him!" Laura shouted.

Benjamin came out from where he was standing, and dragged Hotch to where Reid was. He forced Hotch back on his bleeding knees, and kicked him into place. Hotch didn't have to hear them to know what they wanted.

"No," Hotch managed to say.

"You want me to kill him now? Do you?" Benjamin warned.

Benjamin grabbed a handful of Reid's hair, and lifted him off the ground. Reid coughed as his feet struggled to find the floor. This nightmare was never going to end. It wasn't.

"Fine!" Hotch exclaimed.

The alcoholic dropped Reid, and went to stand by his wife to watch their enjoyment. Hotch crawled over to his young teammate, but instead of forcing Reid on his stomach, he wrapped his arms around Reid's shoulders. He hugged him as tight as he could, and listened to Reid's short yet frantic breaths. Hotch finally accepted that they were going to be killed here. Neither one of them were going to walk it out of there alive.

"Cold," Reid whispered.

Hotch could have kept hugging Reid all evening. It wasn't warming them up at all, but it was giving them the comfort that they both needed. They weren't going to have to die alone.

* * *

><p>Prentiss and Rossi were walking around outside while Morgan and J.J. talked to the boy and his family inside. They were on the lookout for the missing boy, but they hadn't found anything yet. The forest was huge, and the lack of sunlight wasn't helping them at all. If the boy was out there somewhere, they would probably never find him. Prentiss hated it here. She tried not to stumble over the little stones hidden by the newly fallen snow, but Rossi wouldn't laugh at her if she did. They were looking for a missing kid, not taking a stroll in winter wonderland.<p>

"Find anything?" she called out to Rossi.

"Nope. You?"

"Nope," she answered him.

They weren't that far apart, but they wanted to cover more ground. Prentiss found herself back on the boy's property, and was running her flashlight over a creepy looking swing set when she found a girl sitting on one of the swings. The girl jumped when she saw Prentiss.

"What are you doing out here? It's freezing." Prentiss walked up to her, and saw a cell phone glowing in the girl's hands.

"I live here," the girl answered.

"Then why aren't you inside? Who in the world could you be texting out here?"

Rossi came from around the other side of the creepy looking swings, and pointed his flashlight directly at the phone. It made the teenage girl jump, but she was up to something. It was too cold even for someone who lived here to be playing around outside.

"Who's Joseph?" Rossi asked.

"The boogey man," the girl answered.

"Who is he?" Prentiss asked louder.

"A guy. He lives down the street. He goes to the same school as me."

"I couldn't quite make out what it said," Rossi said circling around to the front. "But I'm sure I spotted the word FBI in there. What did it say?"

"I just told him you guys were coming…" the girl mumbled.

Prentiss turned around, and got out her own cell phone. She dialed up Garcia while Rossi continued trying to talk to the teenager.

"The mistress of all things involving wires and buttons is speaking," Garcia said.

"Hey, is there any boys named Joseph in Parker's class?" Prentiss asked.

"Looking, looking, looking, and negative," Garcia said.

"Are there any Josephs related to any of the kids in the class?"

"Already there my dear, and there is indeed a Joseph here. The kid is named Daniel Bates, and he has an older brother named Joseph that is a senior. Daniel was on the list of names that you were going to talk to."

"Thanks," Prentiss said putting her phone back in her pocket. "Rossi, we gotta go. Joseph is Daniel's older brother. That's the house we're going to next. She was warning them!"

* * *

><p>Rossi and Prentiss ran to the front door to get the other two, but they were already leaving. Both parents were waving them out, and J.J. was zipping her jacket back up. All of them were wearing bullet proof vests underneath their shirts, but they didn't provide much warmth. They were still freezing. Morgan thanked them for the time, and got out to the porch.<p>

"We need to get to the next house now," Prentiss said once the door was shut.

"Why? What is it?" J.J. asked.

"We found Elijah's older sister outside texting," Rossi said. "I couldn't make out most of the message but I saw, 'I told Joseph' and 'FBI' so I can only assume what was said."

"Who is Joseph? The next kid is Daniel," Morgan said.

"Yeah, we thought of that," Prentiss said. "So we called Garcia. Joseph is Daniel's older brother. They go to the same school. What reason would there be for this girl telling Joseph that we are here? We didn't tell them that we are heading over there next, and even if we did, why would she go around texting him? It's almost like she was warning him."

"Do you think she knows what they are up to?" J.J. asked.

"I don't know, but we need to go over there now," Rossi said. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

They piled into the car with Morgan in the driver's seat, and they sped away. Rossi sat next to him, and was dialing Garcia up immediately. All of them knew perfectly well that if they were heading to the unsubs house, they wouldn't give up. They would want to fight, and Rossi wanted to know exactly what they were in for.

"Speak and be heard by the goddess of technology," Garcia said.

"Hey, it's Rossi. I'm calling to get some more information on Daniel Bates."

"Daniel, Daniel, Daniel," Garcia mumbled. "You're heading over there now?"

"Yes, we are," Rossi said looking out the window. It had stopped snowing, but the roads still looked slippery.

"Okay, got it. Daniel Bates. He's 15 years old. Interesting, he's a Capricorn. His birthday is coming up in January, but um…he was raised up a grade. He's supposed to be a sophomore but he's super smart so they made him a junior. He's good at school, doesn't look like he's one of the popular kids though. He lives at home with his brother and parents. Doesn't look like he ever took lessons in anything…Interesting."

"What about his brother?"

"Looks like he's failing most of his classes. Gets detentions a lot. He's 17 years old, looks a lot like Daniel. He's been in trouble more often than not."

"And his parents?" Rossi asked.

"His mother doesn't work. Doesn't look like she's ever worked. Her name is Laura, born and raised here. She volunteers at the church a lot though. The father is named Benjamin. He also lived in this town for like forever, and he used to work but he got injured a few years ago and hasn't worked since. Doesn't look like the injury was that serious, like he just hurt a leg. He should have been better by now for sure."

"Pretty much describes what we are looking for," J.J. said.

"What kind of car do they have?" Morgan asked the phone.

"Um, let me see…it's a truck. Ford. Was registered in his father's name, but it was passed down to Benjamin in his will. Well, that's something unique to leave in a will."

"Yes, it does," Prentiss said agreeing.

"Thanks Garcia," Rossi said hanging up.

"This does sound them," Morgan said pressing down on the gas. "We still need to be on the lookout for Tommy though. If they took him in the place of Parker, he's going to be there."

"I can look around outside," Rossi volunteered.

"I'll go with you," J.J. said.

Rossi smiled at her, and looked up just as the car they were in swerved to one side. Rossi held onto the door handle, and Morgan took the wheel of the car in both hands, but the car was sliding. J.J. was falling forward, but Prentiss grabbed her before she fell too far. Both of the girls gasped out loud when the SUV crashed into a tree that was hidden by tons of snow. Rossi closed his eyes, but the impact wasn't that hard. All of them jumped, but the car got most of the damage. The engine was smoking, and Morgan slammed a fist against the wheel.

"Damn it!" he shouted.

"Everyone okay?" Rossi asked turning around.

Prentiss and J.J. looked shaken up, but okay. Neither one of them got so much as a scratch, but Rossi almost got into a lecture about the safety of wearing a seatbelt. J.J. could have gotten thrown out of the windshield if this had been a bad accident, but he kept his mouth shut. All of them weren't thinking straight. Hotch and Reid still were still missing.

Morgan's door was jammed, but he kicked it right open to inspect the engine. He wasn't a mechanic though, and while Rossi loved cars, he couldn't fix a smoking engine. He wasn't stupid enough to try.

"I'll call the sheriff," J.J. said.

"How much further is this house?" Morgan called out.

"It was half an hour drive, and we've been driving for about 10 minutes," Prentiss said.

"Do you just want to try walking? There's only one road here. We can't get lost," Morgan said.

"Oh, we can get lost," J.J. said. "When I was younger, I was with my sister at an amusement park and we got separated. I was crying because I didn't know where I was. She found me in like 5 minutes, and I felt so stupid. There was only 3 rides in the whole park."

"We're all going to stay together," Prentiss said.

"I think we should try it," Rossi agreed. "I haven't been out walking in a long time. We just shouldn't go into the forest. We don't know what lives there, and we really would get lost in there."

Rossi put his gloves back over his hands, and got out of the car. It was cold. There was no denying it, but it was cold pretty much everywhere. He stepped out onto the main road and looked ahead. It was dark outside. He could barely tell that this is where the road was, but there were signs and everyone had working cell phones. If something did happen, they were armed, but Rossi doubted that they would run into any trouble. If there was trouble, it was at a little house about 20 minutes away.

The others joined him on the lonely road, and they began their walk. Rossi was ready to meet the unsubs who took his friends. He kept wondering about what kind of shape would they be in. Would they even be able to walk? They weren't dead. He could sense it. Hotch and Reid were still alive, but they had spent days with these psychopaths. What was done to them?

* * *

><p>Joseph ran as fast as he could to get home. He jumped over all of the logs that were embedded on the forest floor, and he was lucky enough to avoid of the jagged rocks on the path. He needed to get home as fast as he could. The pigs were on their way. The fucking FBI would be at his house, and he needed to get prepared. If they showed up, and everyone was covered in blood, what the fuck was going to happen? Pa couldn't tell them it was just blood of a stupid cow or something. The FBI weren't stupid people. They needed to have a plan.<p>

He dropped of all of his new belongings on the kitchen floor, and ran to the freezer. The door was already open. His father was standing over the agents, and fresh blood was on the back of the older one. It looked like Hotch took a beating from his father, but that wasn't the interesting part. The interesting part was that Hotch had his body over the younger agent, almost like he was protecting him or something. Daniel was watching with a sick fascination on the floor, and Joseph found his mother leaning against one of the walls. No one saw him come in.

"We got a problem," Joseph said trying to catch his breath.

"That we do my son," Benjamin answered. He kicked Hotch in the back, and the agent grunted with pain. "These two ain't doin what they were told. I think it's time we kill the virgin."

"No!" Hotch yelled.

"You ain't the boss of me!" Benjamin shouted back. Benjamin picked Hotch up by the hair, and the agent pathetically fought. He couldn't even keep his legs on the ground because they kept slipping. Joseph figured that Daniel was playing in the lake and got the agents all wet again. It was funny as hell to watch Hotch try and get his footing, but his legs didn't work anymore. They were disgusting looking things, covered in blood and probably broken.

"Bigger problem," Joseph said.

"What's wrong?" his mother finally asked.

"Rest of them FBI is comin over here, like soon," Joseph replied.

Benjamin dropped Hotch, and top of Reid, and the older agent went right back to shielding the doctor's body with his own. Idiots. Daniel never stopped watching them though. In fact, he was bending over so his face would be equal with Reid's face. They would have been eye to eye, but Reid's eyes were closed. And he was looking even more pale than when Joseph left.

"What?" Benjamin asked.

"You heard me old man. They's comin here, and I don't know what to do."

"They can't search the house without a warrant," Laura said getting off the wall. "I won't let them. I'll tell them I just cleaned or somethin."

"Like they'd believe that," Joseph said laughing.

"They ain't allowed in!" Laura shouted. "No!"

"It don't take that long to get one of them warrants," Benjamin said. "We gotta separate these two. It'll be easier to hide them if they ain't together."

"Please…" Hotch said in a cracking voice. "Just leave…us…in the woods. Please."

Benjamin laughed, and kicked Hotch off of Reid. Before Hotch could use his body as a human shield again, Benjamin grabbed him. He held Hotch back, and Hotch fought. Hotch reached both of his hands towards Reid, and tried using his broken legs to kick Benjamin, but Joseph's well fed father was stronger. He pulled Hotch back, and kicked him in the stomach. Hotch cried out with pain, and stopped fighting.

"Can I…has…take…" Daniel stuttered, and wiped his forehead with his palm. "Can I have Reid?"

"Fine," Benjamin said. "We gotta do somethin to keep this ass under control." He pulled Hotch's hair, and forced his head back.

"Kill me," Hotch said looking Benjamin in the eye.

"We ain't killin you honey pie!" Laura said kissing Hotch's cheek.

Joseph rolled his eyes. His Ma was really something else sometimes. Daniel whispered something into Reid's ear, and helped Reid to his feet. By some miracle, the agent was still able to stand, but he needed support. Daniel wrapped one of Reid's arms around his neck, and after a few failed attempts, Daniel helped the agent out of the freezer. Joseph let them pass without comment, and wondered how long Reid had left. It didn't look like long which was a shame because Joseph never had fun with him.

"Reid!" Hotch screamed. "Bring him…don't hurt…him!"

"I'd be more concerned about myself if I were you sweetie pea," Laura said.

"Don't hurt him…kill me…but…don't hurt him," Hotch pleaded. He looked directly at Laura with his plea, but Benjamin kicked him again which broke the eye contact.

"What we goin do with him?" Benjamin asked.

"We're not goin kill him," Laura said. "I like him. He's too sexy."

She grabbed Hotch's ass, and the agent jumped at the pinch. It was disgusting. Joseph didn't want to watch his own freakin mother picking some strange man's ass.

"Just let…Reid go," Hotch struggled to say.

"We ain't letting nobody go," Laura snapped. "Nobody. Got it?"

"We got guns," Benjamin said. "We got them guns. We ain't goin just let them go. We could just shoot them assholes that come stickin their noses where they don't belong," Benjamin said.

"Dad, that's stupid. They would just send more, and besides, they're sendin men too. Not just dumb women but freakin men who know how to shoot better than you."

"What are your ideas then boy?" Benjamin asked.

He kicked Hotch again in the stomach, but the agent didn't cry. His head dropped down on his chest, and Benjamin dropped him. The man fell with a loud thump on the hard floor, but he wasn't moving. Joseph didn't care if he was dead. They could just throw his body in the river next to Tommy's and move on with their lives. It'd be one less thing to worry about. Laura got on her knees next to Hotch, and lifted up his head.

"Still breathing," she mumbled. "He ain't dead. Ain't dead…we gotta get him out of this freezer. He is fucking cold. I don't want him to die yet."

Benjamin shrugged, but lifted up Hotch's arms, and dragged him out of the freezer. Benjamin put him by the couch where Joseph raped the teacher. Hotch still wasn't moving. It was sad that they weren't going to let him freeze to death. Joseph never saw anyone die that way before. Laura sat on the couch next to Hotch, and massaged his head.

"What are we goin do?" Laura asked quietly.

"If they come in here and see one of these guys, it ain't goin be good. And if they comin over here, they probably got some idea of what we got. We can't let them come inside."

* * *

><p>Peter was heading back home after his short talk with Joseph. He knew how crazy his friend's family was, and felt that it was his duty to get them prepared. It would probably be better if they could figure out some way to get the little brother out of the house. Peter only talked to the kid a few times, but he was weird. He was weirder than weird, and Peter never felt comfortable being around him for long. The kid wasn't a killer or anything. He was too skinny to hurt anyone. Peter didn't know the rest of the family Joseph never invited him over, but he told Peter all kinds of story about how his dad drinks himself to sleep most nights and about how his mother has an extremely short temper. Peter didn't mind though. Nobody could choose who their parents were.<p>

Peter checked his phone, but Elijah's sister stopped texting long ago. He was going to ask her if she could pick him up, but he decided not to. He didn't want to see like a lameoid who was afraid of the dark because he wasn't. He just didn't want to run into a bear or something. They lived out there, deeper into the forest of course, but they were there. He turned around and decided to find the main road. If he managed to find that, he would just take that home. He couldn't wait to get back home. He was going to have a big glass of hot chocolate, and surf the internet for girls who were free that weekend. He wanted to party.

He reached the lake where he was when he saw Joseph. His friend was gone, but at least Peter knew where he was. The lake was broken in the middle, but that wasn't unusual. Stupid animals wandered out on thin ice all the time, and that led them to their deaths. Survival of the fittest as they said. It looked like a bigger animal from the looks of it. Poor thing met a terrible death for sure. Peter saw Joseph's house in the distance, but he wasn't going back there. He just needed to find the damned road. He turned around, and that's when he spotted something glimmering from one of the trees.

He walked over to the tree. It was an older pine, probably lived here for the past 100 years or so, but it was still strong. Snow was blanketing most of it, but Peter saw a piece of a necklace perfectly placed on one of the jagged edges. Someone put it there. It couldn't have fallen off of some jogger or hunter or something. Someone put it there for people to find. Peter picked up the necklace piece, and turned it over in his hand. It looked so familiar. It was a tiny flower. Peter brought it closer to his eyes, but he still couldn't remember what girl wore this. He put it back on the edge, and shone his cell phone on light. He took a step back. It was hard to see at first, almost impossible to see, but there were spots of something red on it. The red spots were dried, but they were there, and it wasn't paint.

Peter took several steps away from the tree, and turned around as fast as he could. He broke into a jog, and nearly fell over everything hidden in the snow. He didn't care though. He wanted to get as far away as possible. He ran and ran and ran. He ran until his legs were begging for relief, but he didn't stop until he knew he was far from the lake and that damned tree. He ran for the main road, and stopped to catch his breath. His heart was pounding, and he felt the calf of one of his legs bleeding slightly. A tree branch must have scraped him, but he wasn't thinking about that. All he could think about was that bloody necklace.

He took out his cell phone, and looked through his contacts. All of the names were jumbling together. It was hard to read because he was shaking so bad. He stopped looking, and put his cell phone against his jeans.

"Damn," he said to himself. "God, God, God…What the fuck? What the hell was that?"

He was crying because he was so upset. He didn't know what to do. Who in the world was he supposed to call? Joseph? Tell him he found part of a bloody necklace outside his house? That didn't sound right at all. He slammed a fist down on a wooden post, and tried to stop his tears. Crying wasn't helping anyone. He just needed to think. That's when it hit him. He remembered where he saw the necklace before. It was around Parker's neck. She wasn't his teacher, but she wore that thing every day. He saw her talking to another teacher when Peter was walking to lunch, and he thought it looked nice with the pink sweater she was wearing. He didn't think about it again until now. That was part of her necklace. And she was dead. Dead. That was part of a necklace that belonged to a dead woman.

Peter stuck his hand in his pocket, and started pulling out all the crap he stored in there until he found what he needed. It was a card that the FBI gave him when they were at the school that one day. They were handing out cards, and Peter stuck it in his pocket. He never thought that he would actually ever need it. Next time his mom wanted him to change pants, he would remind her of this situation. Not washing his pants got him what he needed. These people probably wouldn't answer the phone. They were too busy doing FBI stuff, but what if they did answer? What would he say? That he found a bloody necklace that looked like something the dead teacher was wearing? It was near his friend's house, but his friend didn't do it.

He debated about pretending he never saw the stupid thing. He would just take the road home, and get online like he planned to. He straightened himself up, and got back to walking. It was quiet, and the cold wind blew in his face. He wanted to forget what he saw. He wanted to act like none of this ever happened, but he couldn't. He remembered reading about a woman who was getting murdered in front of an apartment complex, and not one person called the police. The murderer even left for a while and came back to finish the job, and still, no one got her help. He didn't want to be like that. He stopped walking, and dialed the number.

"This is Agent Morgan," a voice answered after a few rings.

"Yeah, hi, um, you were at my school a few days ago," Peter started. "I was out walking, and I saw something that you might be interested in. Probably not, but um, I thought I should tell you."

"What is it?"

"Um, I was walking and I saw something shiny on a tree. I didn't know what it was so I got closer and um, it was a necklace piece. Like the thing that goes on the necklace, but not the chain and stuff. It was a flower, and I didn't recognize it at first, but then I remembered I saw it on that teacher. Miss Parker. She wore it like every day, and I can't figure out how it got out here."

"Where are you?" Morgan asked.

"I'm away from the tree now. I ran, but it was near Joseph Bate's house. Joseph didn't have anything to do with it. He's my friend, and he wouldn't pull something like this. Maybe whoever had her let her run around or something, and she tried to run to his house for help."

"Thanks for telling me," Morgan said. "Don't go back there. Head home."

"Night," Peter said.

Peter hung up the phone, and leaned against a tree. Did he do the right thing? The agents were going over to Joseph's house anyway so he wasn't really getting in the way. Joseph didn't have anything to do with it anyway. They would talk to them, and then follow the leads that the necklace gave them. Everything was going to work out. Peter stretched out his legs, and got back on the road to walk home.

* * *

><p>Reid had never been so cold in his entire life. He couldn't feel his toes or fingers anymore, and his body wasn't going back to the shivering stage. He was getting worse, and when Daniel threw the bucket of frozen water with pieces of ice on his back, Reid almost blacked out. It was too much for him. The ice chunks ripped open the wounds on his back, and created bruises underneath his hair. The headache he got from it refused to go away and it took everything he had to just stay awake. He wasn't aware of what Hotch was doing. He felt another body on top of his, but he didn't register what was happening. He didn't even open his eyes until he felt Daniel pulling him to his feet.<p>

"Are you dying?" Daniel asked him once they were out of the freezer.

Fiery pains shot up his body with every step. His muscles felt strange and foreign to him, and his breathing was too slow even for him. Reid didn't know what was happening to him.

"No," Reid managed to say.

"I am," Daniel said.

Daniel pushed open the door in the kitchen, and guided Reid outside. It was colder out there than it was in the freezer, and Reid wanted to go back. He needed to get warmer or he would die. There would no question about it. Freezing to death was becoming a real realistic probability, and with Reid going outside with Daniel, Reid was scared. Daniel wasn't right in the mind anymore. Even if Daniel wanted to help, Reid didn't think he could. Both of them were sick, in their own ways, and Reid was scared that this is how it was going to end.

The teenager supported Reid as they ventured out into the black forest. Daniel was humming a tune that Reid didn't recognize. He seemed to be in good spirits even though he was stumbling on his feet more than Reid was. Daniel didn't take them out far. He found a tree that he seemed to like, and helped Reid sit under it. The snow burned against Reid's rear end. It burned, and he jumped when it hit his skin, but Daniel held him place. Reid was forced to sit in the snow, and when Daniel was confident Reid wasn't going anywhere, Daniel sat next to him.

"I was gived…give…" Daniel hit himself in the head and took a deep breath. "Born. I was born out here. Ma thought it would…would…get me close nature. Close to nature. You're cold."

Reid nodded his head, and looked at Daniel. He was such a confused kid, and he had to go through all of this by himself. He had no one to talk to, and when the cancer started developing in his head, he had no one to turn to. He was alone, and living with the family he did, things just got worse. Reid stretched out the fingers behind his back, and tried reaching for Daniel's hand. He was different from his family, and Reid understood.

Daniel didn't notice Reid trying to get his hand, but Daniel did take off the shirt he was wearing. It was made from thin material, and the old thing had holes all over it, but Daniel put it over Reid's legs. Reid brought his knees up to his chest, and the shirt worked as a little blanket. It didn't bring much warmth, but Reid would be eternally grateful. Daniel had cuts and scrapes all over his back, and while Reid didn't witness any abuse directly from father to son during his stay there, it was obvious that was happened. The kid had been suffering long before he developed the cancer that was killing him.

"Do…believe heaven?" Daniel asked. Daniel ignored the words he skipped or couldn't say.

"I think…so," Reid said. Reid could barely talk too. There was a soft wind blowing outside, and that made it seem even colder out there. Reid couldn't take this. He needed to be inside.

"Miss…teacher is there. She waits. Me." Daniel hit himself against the head again. "I didn't mean…she died. I didn't want. Accident."

Reid didn't want to talk about what happened to Kate. Whenever he thought about her, all he could see was her decaying body sitting in that rocking chair. He didn't want to remember her that way, but it was hard to think about anything else when he was talking with the boy who did that to her. If he really did just kill the young woman on impulse, what was stopping him from doing that to Reid? Daniel was unpredictable. He proved that time and time again, and Reid actually felt safer with any other member of the family. They didn't want him dead yet. Daniel probably didn't want to kill him either, but he wasn't in control anymore.

"Liked her?"

Reid nodded again. He wanted to save all of the energy he had to keep his body heat. He tried thinking back as to what happened when he was in the freezer with Hotch, but all of his memories were jumbled around. He just couldn't think right. What were they going to do with him? If they were hurting him, Reid would just die. Hotch was doing everything he could do to keep Reid safe, and Reid blamed himself. Hotch shouldn't have had to do that. Reid would rather have died than Hotch. Hotch had his son to worry about it. Jack was still just a baby, and he needed his father. Reid didn't even have siblings. Reid would have given his life so Hotch could see his son again.

"Don't let them…hurt…Hotch. He has a son," Reid found himself saying.

Daniel looked at him, but he didn't say anything. He looked forward towards the forest, and put one of his shaky hands on Reid's covered knee. Reid thought he heard something howling in the distance, but he wasn't sure. He was feeling extremely dizzy. He was sure it was because of how cold he was, and he wanted to tell Daniel. He wanted to beg Daniel to get him back into the warmth of the house, but he couldn't. He opened his mouth to talk, but the words wouldn't come out. He ended up laying his head against the tree. A strange wave of sleepiness was overcoming him. As tired as he felt, he knew he couldn't sleep. He couldn't. He was sure that if he fell asleep, he would never wake up again.

_yep. chapter 21. is over. its awsum writing daniel cuz i dont even know what n the world he is going do next but its sad. i mean, he totally is guilty of murder, but hes like really sick. u love him but u hate him at the same time. not many characters can do that. plz review! xoxoxo. till next time my beautiful friends_


	22. Chapter 22

_close to the end now. can u guys feel it? anyways, been busy as usual. my moms comp crashed so guess whose computer shes been using? my poor laptop has been on 4ever but its ok i guess. less time online 4 me tho. but i just learned how 2 make utube videos online so ive been playing around with that and its been AWSUM so go me! enjoy this chapter. sad 2 say that this story wont be as long as secrets of the manor_

Morgan was freezing. He didn't think he had ever been so cold in his entire life, but he kept moving. He was getting closer to Hotch and Reid. He could feel it in his veins, and he wasn't going to let them down. It felt like the sun had set long ago. It was black outside, but they had enough light to see the way ahead. Rossi was smart enough to remember a flash light, and the rest of them had the lights from their phones. J.J. had her phone ready to dial the sheriff if anything went wrong. From what Garica told them about this family, they didn't seem like the brightest of people so Morgan wasn't sure what to expect. Morgan was positive they would be dangerous, and that they would have to get Hotch and Reid out of there as quickly as possible. As soon as the family found out that they were caught, Hotch and Reid would be the first to go and Morgan wasn't going to let happen.

"I wonder which one of them picked out Hotch and Reid," J.J. commented to break the silence.

"Daniel picked out his teacher," Rossi said. "He had a crush on her, and so it was an obvious choice for him."

"It was probably one of the parents that picked out Hotch and Reid. I don't think either one of the boys would go after agents. It was probably more about control than anything else," Prentiss said.

"You should probably call the sheriff's office now," Rossi said. "I have a bad feeling that this isn't going to go smoothly. Hotch and Reid are both going to need medical attention, and we didn't bring the car."

J.J. nodded, and put her cell to her ear. Morgan stopped to catch his breath, and that's when he saw a house in the distance. It wasn't that close, but it didn't seem that far away. His heart sped up, and he pointed out of the house to Rossi. It was almost completely hidden by the trees, but it was there. It looked abandoned from where Morgan stood. He couldn't see any lights on or smoke coming from a chimney, but he knew this was the house.

"I wonder why all their lights are out," Rossi said stepping closer to Morgan.

"They are probably expecting us," Morgan said. He pulled his gun out of its holster. He couldn't wait to get down there.

"So I go with Morgan in the front," Prentiss said.

"And I go with J.J. around the back. I'm going to be keeping my eye out for that Tommy kid too. I doubt we'll be able to find him in weather like this, but it won't hurt to try."

"The sheriff is on his way," J.J. said slipping her phone back in her pocket. "The paramedics are coming too. He kept saying how he wasn't going to go lightly on this one. He visited this house earlier when we went door to door telling everyone about the meeting."

"When will he be here?" Morgan asked.

"He said to give him about half an hour in this weather," J.J. said. "Some of the roads are blocked off, and he doesn't want to get in an accident."

"I don't think Hotch or Reid have half an hour in there. There's someone walking around out there. I can see them."

"They probably still have their guns too," Rossi added. "I see him too. It's a man outside. I think he's looking at us."

"I say let's just go for it. We're already here, and you're right. Hotch and Reid don't have time to wait around. I remember what they did to that teacher," Prentiss said.

"Okay, just remember to stay together. Nobody is going to go wandering off, and if I think it's too dangerous for some reason, we're backing off. Got it?" Morgan asked.

The cold was just starting to tingle the tip of Morgan's nose, but he wasn't thinking about that. He was thinking about how he could take on the son of a bitch standing there with both hands tied behind his back. He was thinking how many hours that asshole tortured two of his dearest friends. He was thinking about what his friends were doing at that very moment while Morgan stood by a lonely road. He couldn't waste any time.

"I'm ready for this," Prentiss said pulling out her gun.

Morgan nodded in agreement, and he started the descent deeper into the forest with Prentiss by his side. It wasn't going to be an easy hike from the look of it, but he was willing to do anything to save his friends. As much as he wanted to, he wasn't going to race down the small slope as fast as he could. He wasn't going to risk one of the others tripping over a stump and breaking an ankle. It was hard to see all of the little nightmares hiding in the ground. As much as he hated going slow, he'd rather be safe than sorry.

* * *

><p>Hotch kept fading in an out of consciousness. He could barely remember where he was or what he was doing there. He knew that he was on a carpeted floor with his body lying up against a couch. He heard angry voices all around, but he couldn't bring himself to focus on just one. All he wanted to do was sleep. He closed his eyes to welcome the blackness that was going to take him far away from this God-fearing house, but that was when a cold hotdog was shoved into his mouth. Cold fingers were controlling his jaw to help with chewing, but Hotch coughed most of it up. Against his will, he was brought back into a cold reality.<p>

"Everything is going to just good," Laura whispered in his ear. "Just got to feed you so you can keep your strength up and I know how you loves my hotdogs."

"Ma, we should just kill them both right now. I got the perfect place to dump the bodies," Joseph said. The older of the two boys was standing by the front door with Reid's gun at his side. Hotch couldn't remember where the other son went off to. He directed his attention back to the kid holding the gun. Hotch needed that gun. If he had that gun, he would be able to stop everything.

"They're out there Laura. I can see them!" Benjamin shouted from somewhere outside.

"So what's the plan smart one?" Laura asked. She ran her fingers through Hotch's moist hair, but Hotch didn't move at all. If he did something stupid now, it was going to cost him his life.

"I don't know. I've got my gun. They ain't comin in here," Benjamin said.

He held his gun up to show Laura, but she didn't seem interested. Instead, she stuffed another cold hotdog in Hotch's mouth. Hotch gagged. His body wasn't able to take much more of this. He would rather be tortured that eat anymore of the damned hotdogs.

"Are we going to hold them back Pa?" Joseph asked.

The teenager opened up a drawer underneath the television, and pulled out one of the guns that used to belong to Hotch. Hotch didn't say anything, but he missed it. That gun was his, and he would do anything possible to get it back.

"Yes, we're goin to fight those pigs. All of them. The more we kill the better. Don't ya think?"

"I ain't dumb dad," Joseph said. "I'm brave, and I'm goin fight. They won't get anywhere near this house. Did Daniel take the third gun? I can't find it."

Joseph threw some old papers on the carpet, but there wasn't anything else in the drawer. That's when it finally dawned on Hotch where Daniel was. That kid had Reid. That psycho teenager was alone with Reid. Hotch tried standing up, but his legs weren't working at all. He was able to push himself away from the stained couch, but he couldn't get on his feet.

"Where are you goin handsome?" Laura smiled showing off her missing teeth.

She pushed him back down, but Hotch wasn't going to give up. He would never stop until he died, and Reid needed him. Reid was still just a kid, and he wasn't able to handle situations like this just yet. He needed Hotch. Hotch put one of his arms on the couch, and managed to get himself onto his knees that way. Laura didn't seem threatened. All she did was laugh.

"I think Daniel got that other gun. He gotta defend himself too ya know."

"What are you going to be doing Laura?" Benjamin asked.

"I'm goin stay put in here with Hollywood," Laura said. "I don't like fightin. What would I tell the priest on Sunday if I shot somebody?"

"What are you goin tell the priest on Sunday if you kill that agent?" Joseph asked.

"Shut your mouth boy!" Benjamin shouted. He hit his oldest son in the back of the head with his gun. It didn't look like it was hard hit, but it probably hurt like hell.

"Please, Reid…let him inside…" Hotch found himself saying. He didn't even recognize his own voice anymore. It sounded strange coming out of his mouth.

"He's fine outside," Laura said putting her hands on Hotch's shoulders.

"No, please…It's freezing out there."

"Would you rather have him die with a bullet to the head?" Laura pestered.

"You have me," Hotch argued. He was starting to warm up, but his fingers still felt like they were burning.

"I have you honey bun, but there are more people in this house than just me and they seem to like that virgin kid of yours. Then again, what am I sayin? He ain't a virgin no more!"

Hotch wasn't about to back down, but what else could he do? His legs weren't hurting him as badly as they were earlier, but he wasn't taking that as a good sign. He relaxed himself back against the couch, but he was keeping an eye out. Once he saw an opportunity, that gun would be his. He just needed a few minutes alone with the kid who was holding it.

"If I kill them two guy agents, mind if we take the girls?" Benjamin asked.

He was standing by the front window next to Joseph. Both of them were looking out into the starless night, but Hotch couldn't see anything. It took everything he had inside of him just to keep himself awake. He didn't even know what was going on. What were they talking about?

"Don't we got enough already?" Laura asked. She sat down on the couch next to Hotch, and Hotch could smell the salty sweat on her skin. Why was she sweating so badly?

"Them two is goin die soon," Benjamin said. "Look at the boss guy. He don't look healthy to me, and I'm sure virgin is already dead. He's been outside with Daniel for a while."

"I want Daniel to come back inside before them agents get here. It is too cold out there, and I don't think he took his sweater."

"I ain't goin out there Ma. He'll come in when he gets cold enough," Joseph said. "Besides, the pigs are almost here. I'm here to fight."

"We can't leave him out there. He's…he hasn't been himself lately," Laura said slowly.

"I ain't goin Ma," Joseph repeated.

"Fine, I'll go find him," Laura said getting up. She grabbed the pink sweater that once belonged to the pretty teacher, and started buttoning it up. It didn't fit though, and Hotch closed his eyes as the buttons started popping off. Laura didn't seem to notice though. She went into the kitchen, and came back with a thicker jacket covering the sweater.

"I don't want you out there long," Benjamin said. "I'm goin out there to keep them pigs back, but it's freezing. You gotta stay in here and keep warm."

"I won't be out long, but that means you gotta watch Hollywood. Deal?"

"But Ma!"

"Don't you but me! You watch him you lazy ass while I find your brother!" Laura shouted.

Joseph sighed loudly, but he obeyed his mother and took her place on the couch. Laura watched to make sure he would stay before she went out through the kitchen door. Benjamin pulled some gloves over his hands, and then he went out the front door. None of this seemed real anymore. Hotch felt like he was in some kind of dream, but he knew he wasn't. This was really happening.

"You dead yet?" Joseph asked kicking the side of Hotch's head.

"What's going on outside?" Hotch asked.

"The other pigs are coming, but don't worry. Pa is good with a gun. He says that he's never missed a shot in his entire life. Your friends are as good as dead, but hopefully, he'll let one of the girls live. That little blonde is pretty hot ya know. I can't believe you never screwed her."

The team was outside? They were outside, and they were coming? Hotch strained his head to look out one of the windows, but he couldn't see anything and it was quiet out there. He coughed, probably from all of those damned hotdogs, but he couldn't believe it. The team was finally here, but did they know Benjamin was waiting for them? Did they know that this family was armed, and more dangerous than Hotch could have imagined?

"You're never going to look her in the eye," Hotch said.

"What did you say?" Joseph asked. He jumped off the couch, and stood in front of Hotch. "What did you say tough guy?"

Hotch looked the kid, but he didn't feel any pity for the teenager anymore. He was way past that point. Joseph was never going to change. He could spend the rest of his life in therapy, but it wasn't going to help him. Joseph had been trained from the moment he could walk to treat people like this. With the way life was going for the kid, he was going to end up worse than his father, and that was terrifying.

"I said," Hotch said pushing himself back up. "That you're never going to breathe the same air as her!"

Hotch was on his feet. He wasn't steady, and he was prepared to fall down at any moment, but he was on his feet. Joseph took out of the gun, and pointed in at Hotch. Hotch wasn't afraid though. He had been in situations worse than this before. He wasn't able to walk on his own, but he was still going to be able to take down a kid like Joseph. He hoped.

* * *

><p>Prentiss wasn't used to walking on such a rough terrain, but she kept her footing. She only tripped once, but she didn't fall. Rossi and J.J. were close behind her, and they were all looking out for each other. Morgan was leading the way, and even though he wasn't going that fast, it was hard to keep up with him. Prentiss wasn't wearing the best shoes for this kind of hike, and the cold air was pushing through her jacket. She wasn't about to complain. She was going to make it down the hill, and find her friends. They were getting closer with every step, and she could see the house more clearly than she did before.<p>

It was a nice sized house, but it was older. The paint was chipping off the walls, and abandoned bikes were in the front yard. All it needed was a creaking swing set to make this look like a scene from a horror movie. Prentiss didn't see a swing set, but she did see a creep looking barn near the house. She was sure that somebody was killed there. Why didn't the sheriff mention that this house was all by itself in the middle of the forest? This house seemed further away than the other houses they went to, and it wasn't far from the dump site. Hotch and Reid were both in that house. She just knew it.

"Are you doing okay?" Morgan asked.

"Fine. I'll be better once we're then," Prentiss said.

"We're going to go around to the back now," Rossi said once he caught up with them. They had taken a short break for everyone to catch up, but they were ready to move on.

"Remember to stay together," Morgan said.

"Will do," J.J. said smiling.

Prentiss watched them take a different path down to the house, but she was sure they weren't going to get hurt. Everything was going to go smoothly. Morgan pulled his gun out in front of him, and they both finished the short journey down the hill.

Her heart sped up when she saw a man standing in the front yard. She saw him from the street, but she was hoping he had gone inside by the time she got there, but he was still there. He was waiting. His beer belly hung over his pants, and his greasy hair didn't look like it had been washed in weeks. As gross as that was, she was far more concerned with the gun he was holding. It wasn't held out in front of him, but he did have it close to his chest. He would be able to pull it out and shoot at a moment's notice. He took a step closer when Prentiss emerged from the thick trees with Morgan at her side.

"Off my property now," the man shouted. "Both of ya!"

"We're just here to talk," Morgan said.

"Most people don't come in the middle of the night holdin guns just to talk. A man got his rights to defend his property so get off!"

"Benjamin Bates, right? Benjamin, my name is Derek Morgan and I'm from the FBI. You need to put that gun down. We just want to talk."

Morgan and Prentiss were slowly edging towards the fat man on the snowy lawn, but Prentiss was keeping her eye on that gun. She didn't trust him at all. Where was the rest of the family? She thought that if they knew the FBI was coming, all of them would be outside waiting. They were inside with Hotch and Reid. Were they hurting them? Were they getting rid of her friends so when they got inside, it would be too late?

Prentiss wasn't watching the gun when it fired. She heard it go off, and that's what broke her away from imaging what Hotch and Reid were going through, but she would be too slow to react. She looked back at Benjamin, and saw him holding the gun in front of him. She heard Morgan shout something, but she didn't know what. She looked back at Benjamin, and that's when Morgan jumped on her. They both fell on the snow as the bullet sped past them, and into one of the trees. Prentiss didn't waste any time getting back up. She got on her knees, and crawled behind one of the trees when a second bullet was fired. Morgan was safe next to her.

"Didn't see that coming," Morgan told her.

"Thanks," Prentiss said. Her heart was still pounding, but she didn't get hit anywhere. She had Morgan to thank for that.

"You still just want to talk?" Benjamin shouted. He sounded drunk.

"We've got to get in that house," Morgan said.

"I'm going to distract him," Prentiss decided. She put the gun down, and brushed her hair out with her fingers.

"No, you're not," Morgan said.

"We just need him distracted for a minute," Prentiss said quickly. "He has a history of getting distracted by girls."

"And what if he just shoots you? He knows you're part of the team."

"Just follow my lead," Prentiss said.

* * *

><p>Reid was starting to give into the darkness that had been beckoning to him for some time now when he heard a gun fire. His eyes shot open, and he looked in the direction that he heard the deafening noise. He didn't see anything, but it was close by. He knew it was. He tried stretching out his fingers to get the blood flowing again, but his fingers weren't working correctly. He was just too cold. He looked over at Daniel, but the boy didn't seem to have noticed.<p>

"Did…you…hear that?" Reid asked him. It was hard to talk. His voice was trembling, and he didn't think that talking was going to help him warm up.

"Night. I like. I night…." Daniel hung his head down. He threw a punch at the side of his head, but he didn't say anything else. The kid was getting worse.

"We need to…get inside," Reid struggled to say. The cold was going to kill both of them. If the team really was there, Reid didn't want to be in the middle of a fight. He didn't want the team to find his frozen body underneath a tree. Reid wasn't ready to die.

"Ghosts…" Daniel whispered. "Did you see ghost?"

Reid couldn't tell if the boy was truly asking if Reid had seen a ghost or not or if he was just getting delusional because of the tumor pressing on his brain. Either way, Reid couldn't sit in the snow talking about spirits. He wasn't able to. Why couldn't Daniel see that?

"Daniel, I'm…so cold. Please."

"Miss…teacher is ghost. Now. Dead ghost. Not cold anymore."

"I don't want to be….a ghost…" Reid pleaded. His teeth were chattering, and the tips of his fingers were a pale blue color.

Daniel finally looked at him. Frost hung down from the strands of his hair, but he wasn't shivering like Reid was. Daniel looked more like a ghost than any drawings of ghosts that Reid had ever seen. This boy wasn't going to live to see his high school prom or experience his first kiss. With the rate he was going, he was never going to see the sunlight again.

"Daniel!" Laura called out.

Reid didn't look for Laura. He didn't care where that terrible woman was. All he cared about now was Daniel, and what the very confused boy was going to decide to do. Daniel didn't look around for his mother either. She wasn't wanted there.

Daniel reached in his back pocket, and Reid's heart froze when he saw the kid pull out a gun. Was this how everything was going to end for Reid? A bullet to the head from a dying kid? Reid didn't close his eyes in anticipation. He held them open, but Daniel didn't aim the gun at Reid's head. He put the gun down beside him, and kept digging in his pocket. His hands were trembling, but Daniel kept searching. He finally pulled out a little key. Without a word, he bent down behind Reid and took off the handcuffs. He threw the handcuffs as far as he could into the forest. Daniel squeezed one of Reid's hands and offered a small smile. Reid wanted to put his hands underneath the tee shirt he was wearing, but he was too weak. He had to leave them behind him in the snow.

"We die together," Daniel said.

"Please," Reid continued to beg. "I want…to go home. Please help."

"There you are!" Laura yelled out. She ran from a few feet away, and dropped to her knees. She kissed her son on the forehead, but he didn't acknowledge her. "You're freezing!"

She tore the shirt away from Reid's bare knees, and she put it back on her son. She wrapped it over his shoulders, and put her gloves on his hands. The cold stabbed back into Reid's open wounds, and Reid gasped loudly. Laura glanced at him with disgust in her eyes. She was never going to help him.

"Come on, you gotta get back inside."

She tried pulling Daniel up, but he wasn't helping. In fact, he struggled to keep his place by Reid. If it was up to her, she would take Daniel inside for hot chocolate while Reid was left alone to meet his death in the snow, but Daniel wasn't cooperating with her.

"No," Daniel said. "I stay. Here. Reid."

"No honey bee, you need to come back inside. It's too cold out here."

"No," Daniel said again.

"The other agents are in the front yard with Pa. They're shooting, and you need to come inside. I'm not going to let one of my boys get hurt."

"Later," Daniel said.

Laura didn't look convinced, but she got off her knees and stood up. She took off her jacket, and put it on top of Daniel's knees. Reid recognized the jacket as the one that Kate wore when she was kidnapped. He couldn't look at it. He had to turn away.

"I'll be back in five minutes sweetie pie," Laura said. "Okay? Keep warm. Five minutes is all you got. Just long enough for me to get another coat on."

She kissed Daniel on the cheek, and smiled at her youngest son. She glanced once more at Reid, and she gave him a rough kick in his side as she was leaving. Reid cried out from the sharp pain, and Laura laughed. Reid opened up his mouth, and bent his head over to catch his breath. Where was his team? He knew they were there. He heard at least two guns fire, but then it got quiet. His genius brain was trying to explain everything, to make it seem like it was going to be okay, but why didn't he hear any voices? Why wasn't there a struggle going on? They weren't going to be able to find him out there. He wasn't that close to the house anymore, and he was too weak to shout out for help.

"Scared?" Daniel whispered. "I am."

Reid couldn't speak. His thoughts felt jumbled up in his mind, and he couldn't seem to catch his breath. He tried taking a deep breath, and he fell over. His cheek hit the snow, but he didn't cry out like before. He was so tired, and all he wanted to do was sleep. He felt Daniel scoot closer to him, and Daniel put a jacket across Reid's side. Reid felt the warmth of the jacket transfer over to his skin, but it didn't stop the shivering. Reid was fighting as hard as he could, but he couldn't fight any longer. Reid closed his eyes, and finally welcomed the blackness that was beckoning him. He would never see Daniel again.

* * *

><p>Rossi heard the shots fired, but he didn't hear any shouting. He did want to go see what was going on over there, but he had to stay where he was. He kept his eye out for any kind of movement, but it was quiet where he was walking with J.J. He kept his flashlight ahead of him, and he was able to get a good view of the house and the barn. It didn't look like anybody was near the barn. He wondered if the boy that was missing, Tommy, was being held captive in that barn. He prayed he was. It would be a death sentence to be lost in the forest that night.<p>

"There's a lake over there," J.J. said. She pointed her flashlight towards a frozen lake.

"Let's check it out," Rossi said.

He led the way to the lake, and while it pitch black outside, he could see a hole near the middle of the lake. He wasn't about to venture onto the ice to see what fell through, but it was big enough for a human being. He backed away from the lake, and aimed his flashlight to the snowy ground. There weren't any footprints though. The only tracks he saw were made by himself and J.J. If that hole in the ice really was from someone being thrown through, they had to have left something behind.

Rossi kicked some of the snow around in front of him, and walked a few steps. When he saw something that didn't quite match the white snow, he bent down. He reached his hand out, and pulled out a phone. The phone was broken with red splotches across the screen. He showed it to J.J. who put the phone in a baggie she had in her pocket.

"I'm betting you that belongs to Tommy," Rossi said quietly.

"So you think he was thrown into the ice?" J.J. asked.

"I think he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and saw something that the unsubs didn't want him to see. Whatever he saw cost him his life."

"I'll have the sheriff search here," J.J. said. "I won't forget to tell him that Tommy's body is probably underneath the ice."

"Ready to move closer to the house?" Rossi asked after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, let's go," J.J. said.

Rossi made sure to stay as close as he could to J.J. He wasn't going to let her get lost, and he heard the story of when Reid and J.J. split up more time than he could count. The likelihood of that happening again wasn't high, but Rossi wasn't going to take any chances. The cold was tickling the tip of his nose, but he was warm enough. He had a thick sweater underneath the black jacket he was wearing, and he had long socks on underneath his jeans. He didn't care if the others were going to make jokes about him afterwards. He was probably the warmest one there.

When Rossi and J.J. were close enough to the house to see lights on inside, he stopped. He saw someone moving around, and he pulled J.J. with him behind a tree. He paused for a few seconds before looking out from behind the tree. He saw a chubby woman wearing a pink sweater and a knee length dress going into the house.

"That's probably the mother," J.J. said. "Laura, I think."

"What was she doing outside? It didn't look like she was waiting for us," Rossi said.

"I don't know," J.J. replied. "She kept turning around though."

"There must be someone out here," Rossi said looking around. He didn't expect whoever was out to pop out and announce themselves, but he looked anyway.

"I don't hear anyone," J.J. whispered.

"She came from over there," Rossi said pointing in that direction. "Follow me."

* * *

><p>Morgan cursed under his breath as Prentiss came out from behind of the tree with her hands in the air. He didn't know what she was going out, but he didn't like it one bit. He kept his gun in front of him, but he didn't move from the tree.<p>

"Would you stop hitting me?" Prentiss shouted at the top of her lungs. "I'm not doing anything with you!"

Morgan peaked out from the tree, and Benjamin looked just as confused as he was. Prentiss didn't even look back at Morgan as she walked closer to Benjamin. Her hair looked like a complete mess, and her jacket was halfway off. Morgan was finally beginning to understand what she was going at.

"Get back here!" Morgan yelled at her.

"You're not touching me again!" Prentiss shouted back.

She was only a few feet away from Benjamin, and Morgan could tell from the look at that man's eyes, he was getting ready to grab Prentiss. Morgan got of his knees, and crouched low to the ground to get a good angle. Prentiss knew exactly what she was doing. She wasn't walking in a straight line, but a curved one so Morgan could get the shot.

"I'll get her for ya!" Benjamin said will a silly smile on his face. "She's a pretty one!"

"No Benjamin!" a woman screamed from the doorway.

Morgan ignored the screaming woman, and fired his gun. He was done wasting time with all of this shit. Benjamin was a dangerous man, and Prentiss was far too close to him for comfort. She stopped walking when the gun was fired, but the woman ran down the steps of the porch. She didn't make it in time. The bullet hit Benjamin in the chest, and he fell down. Morgan jumped out from his spot, and ran over to where the bleeding man was.

He handed Prentiss her gun, and she went over to the woman. Morgan bent down to check on Benjamin. The overweight man was still clenching onto his gun, and he even dared to aim it at Morgan. Morgan was positive that he would have fired, but Prentiss kicked him in the leg. He lost his hold of the weapon, and Morgan grabbed it. Blood was gushing out of the wound in his chest, and as much as Morgan hated it, he knew he needed to call the paramedics.

"Get your hands off him!" the woman shouted.

"Ma'am, I am placing you under arrest," Prentiss told her firmly. Prentiss the woman in handcuffs easily because the chubby lady was far too interested in what was happening to her husband.

"He don't like doctors! He got no medical insurance!" she complained.

Morgan pulled out his phone without taking his eyes away from Benjamin. Morgan didn't know exactly where the bullet hit him on the inside, but it wasn't looking good. The blood soaked through the shirt and jacket he was wearing, and was already falling onto the snow.

"Please let him go! I got towels inside. He need some towels or somethin!"

"Hello, this is Agent Derek Morgan calling for some medical assistance," Morgan told the woman who answered his call.

"Yes, Agent Morgan down at the Bates residence?"

"Yeah, I have one injured male. He was shot in the chest, and it's not looking good."

"They are on their way sir," the woman said.

Morgan hung up the phone without telling the lady, and looked towards the house. He needed to get in there, but he couldn't just leave this guy laying there. Prentiss looked just as busy as he was with Laura struggling against her to get to her husband.

"I think I'm going to take her inside," Prentiss said.

"My boys are in there, and you know what? They armed! Both of em! Armed with the guns of your dead teammates. Ain't that just the funniest?"

Morgan tried reading her eyes to see if she was lying or not, but it was too dark for that. He was sure that she was lying about their "dead teammates". She was probably right about her sons being armed though. He was worried about that.

"I'm not afraid of your teenagers," Morgan told her.

He got to his feet, and was debating whether or not to get Benjamin inside when he saw the wounded man move out of the corner of his eye. Benjamin sat up, and grabbed the gun by Morgan's feet. He raised it up, but Morgan reacted faster. Morgan shot the man in the head, and he fell down. He was dead before he hit the snow. Laura screamed.

"That guy just didn't stop, did he?" Morgan asked. He was out of breath, but at least Benjamin wasn't a danger anymore.

"Murderer!" Laura screamed. "You filthy, black, murderer! You killed an innocent man!"

Blood rolled down Benjamin's forehead, and his open eyes look towards the sky. Morgan heard sirens in the distance, and he knew that he needed to wait for them. He couldn't leave Prentiss out in the snow, but he didn't know how dangerous it would be inside.

"Benjamin!" Laura sobbed. Tears were falling down her face, but Morgan didn't feel sad for her. She had better been praying that his friends were still alive. "Oh honey buns, wake up!"

"The police are almost here," Morgan told Prentiss.

"Do you think we should…?" Prentiss stopped.

A gunshot went off from inside the house, and Laura screamed again. They didn't have time to discuss their options. They had to get in there. Morgan nodded at Prentiss, and slowly walked over to the front door. He tried looking in the windows, but he didn't see anyone moving around. They could be in the back rooms, and then he started wondering if it was Rossi or J.J. who fired that shot, but he didn't seem either. He was on his own.

* * *

><p>Hotch heard people talking outside, and when Laura came back inside, she completely ignored her oldest son. Hotch didn't care about what was happening outside. This was between him and Joseph, and he was going to win.<p>

"Surprised you didn't whine to Mommy," Hotch said.

"Shut up old man," Joseph said. "I can't wait to kill you. I'm sure crazy Daniel wouldn't mind doing stuff to you after you're dead. You know what he did to that teacher? He's goin do it to you too. You should see what he does to that skinny kid of yours."

"And what do you think's goin happen when they take you to jail?" Hotch asked coldly.

"Ain't never goin to jail," Joseph said proudly.

A loud gunshot went off outside, and Laura screamed. Joseph turned around to see why his mother was screaming, and Hotch took that as his chance. He lunged for Joseph's legs, and brought the kid down. Joseph dropped the gun, and it slid across the floor. He reached his arm out to grab it, but Hotch was ready for him. He flipped the kid over to his back, and punched him across the face.

"Get off me!" Joseph shouted.

Hotch punched him again, and Joseph cried out in pain. The kid was putting up a good fight though, and Hotch wasn't used to fighting without his legs working like they should be. Joseph kicked him in the groin, and Hotch fell off the boy. Joseph tried crawling over to the gun, but Hotch grabbed his foot, and pulled him back. He punched the kid in the face as soon as he was close enough, and that punch looked like it broke his nose. Joseph's nose was positioned oddly on his face, and blood trickled down the nostrils.

Hotch punched him once again to keep him down, and then Hotch crawled as fast as he could to where the gun landed. Joseph was moaning loudly, but he wasn't moving. Hotch stretched his arm out underneath the couch and after a few seconds of finding nothing but dustballs, his hand found the target. He squeezed his fingers around the trigger, and pulled it out. He turned onto his back, and saw that Joseph was already back on his feet heading towards Hotch. Hotch fired the gun twice, and Joseph fell down dead. Both shots went directly into Joseph's head. Hotch let out the breath he was holding, and relaxed on the floor.

"FBI!" a voice shouted from the front door.

"It's clear Morgan," Hotch shouted weakly.

Hotch used the last of his strength to sit up against the wall. He didn't really want to be lying on the floor when Morgan came in. He started coughing again as he pushed himself up, and he put his knees against his chest, but he felt sick. A strong feeling of nausea came over him, and he almost threw up again, but he kept it in. He came this far without puking. He could hold on a off little bit longer.

"Hotch?" Morgan asked.

"I'm here," Hotch said.

Morgan kept his gun out, and looked over the room. The television was still running, but the house felt empty. It was quiet, and Hotch felt at peace. He leaned his head against the wall, and took a deep breath.

"Where's the other boy? Where's Reid?" Morgan asked.

"Outside," Hotch said.

Morgan ran over to him, and took off the sweater he was wearing. He wrapped it around Hotch's legs. Hotch wasn't cold anymore, but he needed to go the hospital. He felt dizzy. The world was spinning, and he couldn't stop it.

"You're burning up," Morgan said quietly. "The ambulance is almost here."

"I'm fine," Hotch said so Morgan wouldn't worry. "Go find Reid, and the other kid."

Hotch closed his eyes, but Morgan never left his side. Hotch felt Morgan put his hand on Hotch's knee as Hotch fell into a deep sleep. Hotch didn't plan on falling asleep. He didn't plan on it, but he couldn't stop it. He wanted to be awake when they brought Reid inside, but he was asleep in less than a minute.

* * *

><p>J.J. stayed behind Rossi, but she was ready for anything to pop out at her. She was ready to shoot if someone tried to attack, but nothing did. She was ready to tell Rossi to get back to the house when she saw something glistening from one of the trees. She stopped Rossi from walking, and she went forward to grab the jewelry from the tree when they both heard something. Rossi put a finger to his mouth to tell her to keep quiet, and they circled around the tree.<p>

J.J. felt her jaw drop when she saw the other side of the tree. A skinny boy was hovering over another figure in the snow. The boy had welts all over his pale back, and he didn't have so much as a shirt on. Layers of frost had formed over his ragged hair, and the tips of his fingers were blue. She directed her attention to the figure on the ground, and she recognized him immediately. It was Reid, and he looked unconscious. She saw his toes sticking out by, but she couldn't see his face. It was being covered up by the kid sitting on top of him. Why in the world was he sitting on top of Reid? He wasn't touching him at all, just sitting on him.

"Stand up slowly," Rossi told him.

The boy looked at Rossi, but didn't listen. He pulled some of Reid's hair away from his face, and that's when J.J. spotted the gun. The kid wasn't holding the gun, but it was on top of Reid. What if she shot Reid? J.J. couldn't see any blood, but that didn't mean it wasn't there. What if Reid was already dead?

"Get off him!" Rossi shouted.

"Cold?" the boy asked him.

J.J. looked at Rossi, but neither of them knew what to say. Did the kid just ask them if they were cold? That didn't make much sense.

"Get off him," Rossi said again more calmly.

"See ghosts? Ghosts. Dead. Scared," he said quietly.

"There's nothing to be scared of," J.J. told him. "Could you come over here?"

"Dead," the boy repeated.

The kid reached for the gun, and he brought it close to Reid's head. Rossi had no choice but to fire. The bullet shot the boy in the neck, and he fell off Reid. J.J. ran over to where Reid was, and lifted him from the snow. He was freezing, and it looked like his lips were light blue. There was a jacket over him, but he was naked other than that. She took off the coat she was wearing, and wrapped him in that to keep him warmer, but he remained unconscious.

"The boy is dead," Rossi said slowly.

J.J. looked over at him, and saw the skinny frame of the teenager in the snow. His mouth had fallen open, and his dark eyes seemed focus on the tree he died by. A thin trail of blood seeped out of his mouth, and was turning the snow around him red. J.J. looked away. She couldn't stand the sight of dead bodies, especially young ones. She hugged Reid close to her, and heard the paramedics parking their vehicle out front. Reid wasn't going to die. He wasn't going to.

"Look at this," Rossi said.

He went over to the tree, and picked up the glittering piece of jewelry J.J. saw before. He focused his flashlight on it so they could both see what it was, and J.J. saw the pretty flower. It looked like it was once part of a necklace, but it had lost the chain somehow. That little flower was what led them to Reid, and the skinny boy that wouldn't live to see tomorrow.

_sadness, right? total sadness. bet u guys didnt see this one coming. lemme know ur thoughts tho! daniel kinda chose his own ending. i didnt come up with it myself lol. he had all kinds of ideas going through my head but this one was the ultimate winner. and it was harder than i thought it would b 2 write the fighting scene between hotch and joseph. im sure it looks cooler n my head lol. till next time xoxoox_


	23. Chapter 23

_so i had most of this chapter written a while ago. it just sat on my computer tho. ive still been playing around with making utube videos cuz i rock at it now and im trying 2 get ready 2 move 2 la. moving sux cuz it costs money and im not eager 2 leave my awsum job behind but i must so i can act 4 real. but ya, here is the chapter. u find out more about daniel and joseph and fun stuff. and dont kill me cuz of what happens 2 reid lol_

Prentiss hated standing around waiting for the police to take Laura into custody. The woman smelled terrible, and she wouldn't stop talking. She kept going on and on and on about getting her husband to the hospital because "them doctors" might be able to take the bullet out of his brain. Prentiss didn't think it was even possible to be this annoying, but Laura was proving her wrong.

"Is they just getting his bed ready in that van?" Laura asked. "He needs lots of pillows for his head, his poor head. And blankets. It's cold out here."

"Those beds aren't for him," Prentiss said eyeing the beds coming out of the ambulance.

"They for your dead friends?"

"No, you see that big bag on the ground by the van? The black one with the zipper? That one is for your dead husband," Prentiss said.

"He ain't dead," Laura spat out.

"I guess it is kind of hard to argue with you," Prentiss said. "I mean, I can see your husband's brains in the snow, but you know best."

"I have my rights!" Laura shouted.

"Yes, you have the right to keep your mouth shut before anymore stupidity escapes," Prentiss mumbled. She was sick of this woman.

"I want to see my boys," Laura demanded. "Both of them. Right now."

"You can see them at the station," Prentiss said.

An officer came up to her, and Prentiss willingly transferred Laura to his hands. Laura wasn't making anything easier though. She kept trying to escape so she could get to her husband. It was obvious the man was dead. What more could Laura do?

"Let me go!" she yelled. "Let me go you fucking pig!"

"Good luck," Prentiss told the officer.

"Yeah thanks," he replied. He managed to turn around with her, and Prentiss watched with mild interest while he struggled to get her into his car. That woman really was something.

Prentiss saw the paramedics work on getting the rest of their equipment out, and Prentiss took that moment to go into the house herself. She knew Morgan was already in there, but she held her gun out in front of her just in case. She didn't know what happened to Laura's sons, or what kind of condition Reid and Hotch were in, but she was ready for anything.

She pushed the front door open, and looked around. She could hear a television coming from another room, but she didn't hear any voices. The house itself was in terrible condition. The floor needed to be mopped, there were considerable sized holes in the walls, and all she could smell was hotdogs. It made her stomach turn, but she kept going. There was a room directly in front of her, and it looked like there was a kitchen to her left.

"Morgan?" she called out.

"Over here, in the family room!" Morgan answered.

She followed the sound of voice into the room in front of her. There was a filthy couch placed against one of the walls with a television across from it. Various papers and beer cans were scattered across the floor, and she could spot several stains on the carpet that didn't look like it came from food. Near the center of the room was a body. The kid with dark hair was wearing a jacket and jeans with black tennis shoes. His hair was greasy, and his skin was suffering from a bad case of acne, but he didn't need to worry about that anymore. The kid was dead.

"Who is this?" Prentiss asked.

"One of the sons," Morgan answered. "I don't know which one, but I'm guessing Joseph. He looks older."

"Did you shoot him?"

"He was dead when I got here," Morgan said.

Morgan was on the floor next to Hotch. It looked like Hotch was unconscious, but Prentiss rushed over to be with him. She fell on her knees, and looked over her chief leader. Hotch's black hair was wet, but she didn't think it came from sweat. It wasn't exactly warm in the house. His mouth was open, and while he looked to be sleeping, it wasn't a peaceful rest. Panic was written all over his exhausted features, and after touching his forehead, Prentiss knew that he had to get to the hospital now. He was burning up.

"Oh my God," Prentiss said under her breath. "What did they do to him?"

He was naked other than the sweater Morgan gave up for him, and his legs were bloody. One of them was probably a result of the car accident, but what happened to other one? Prentiss could barely stand to look at them. Thin red marks hung around Hotch's wrists like bracelets, and the tips of some of his fingers were red with blood.

"Where is he?" a paramedic asked as he walking in.

"Over here," Morgan said standing up.

Prentiss didn't want to stand up. She didn't want to leave Hotch on the floor by himself. She had come too far to just leave him there. The paramedics gathered around her, but it took Morgan to finally bring her away from the scene. The paramedics moved Hotch away from the wall, and positioned him on his back. They went to work right away applying an oxygen max, and taking all of his vitals.

"Didn't you say there were two here?" another paramedic asked Morgan.

"Yeah, um," Morgan said looking around.

"Back here," Rossi said coming in from a door in the kitchen. "Hurry. He is outside, and I didn't think it would be smart to try moving him."

"How is he?" Morgan asked.

"Not good," Rossi said.

Prentiss watched about six of the paramedics follow Rossi outside, but she would wait to join them after Hotch was on his way away from that hell hole. They were finally loading him onto the bed, and Prentiss stood back with Morgan and watched. They had never seen Hotch like that before, and it was scary. He didn't wake up while they shouted commands at one another, and it wasn't long at all before they carried him out. They fought so hard to get there. Prentiss suffered from many sleepless night and countless nightmares just to find where Hotch and Reid were, and now that she was there, it was worse than she ever could have imagined.

* * *

><p>J.J. sat in the snow with Reid while Rossi went to find out where all of the paramedics were. She heard the sirens come up, but then it got quiet. When nobody was out there looking for them after a few minutes went by, Rossi volunteered to go find them. Reid was wearing a thin old tee shirt, a dirty jacket, and the one that J.J. gave up, but he still didn't look warm enough. Her coat was barely covering up his stomach, and she thought the holey shirt was doing more harm than good so she tossed it away. She took off the green sweater she was wearing, and wrapped that tightly around Reid's shoulders. She probably would have taken off her socks if she didn't hear Rossi coming back.<p>

"J.J.?" he called out.

"Over here," J.J. replied.

She brought Reid closer to her, and hugged him as tightly as she could. She was scared to death of what was going to happen to him. She managed to get most of the frost out of his hair, but he was still too cold. How long had he been out there? Why did these people keep him outside like this? Who was that boy he was with? Her heart was pounding in her chest at the thought of what that family did to the boy she considered to be her little brother. He was still breathing, but he was unconscious before she got there. How long had he been like that? Was the kid on top of him really planning on killing him? She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even realize when the paramedics got there. Rossi had to tap her on the shoulder just to bring her back to the reality of what was happening.

She looked up at the brown haired man ready to take Reid into his care. As silly as it sounded, she didn't trust him. She didn't want to hand over the boy genius to anyone right after she found him. She wanted to keep him safe, and she knew that he would be safe once he was with the team again, but she knew he needed urgent medical help. She surrendered Reid to the waiting EMT, and she accepted Rossi's hand to help her on her feet.

Unsubs that J.J. dealt with in the past were nothing when compared with this family from hell. She didn't even know what they did to her dear friends. No photographs were sent out, and they didn't receive any video feed like Henkle had done. All she knew for sure was what the unsubs did to their previous victims, and from the looks of it, Reid's face was relatively untouched. It didn't like they were in any stage of trying to remove his flesh, and for that, she was grateful, but he had been beaten. His pale skin was littered with black bruises and open wounds, and as she was rearranging his sweaters, she noticed a huge mark by his ribcage. As scary as all of that was, she didn't see the worst of it until she was looking down where she was sitting with Reid.

The white snow was stained with red. It just wasn't a little spot here and there, but it was all around where Reid was laying down. She looked over where the EMT was carefully put Reid on the bed, and that's when she saw the trail of blood going down the boy genius' legs. She felt the small dinner she ate that night come up her throat, and after a few moments of deep breathing, she managed to keep it down. She was finding it more difficult to stand though. She couldn't comprehend what was happening. Did somebody really rape Spence? How could someone possibly do that to him? She tried backing away from the bloody scene. She couldn't stand to look at anymore. Tears were building up in her eyes, and she felt her body start to tremble. She didn't know if it was from nerves or from the falling snow, but she couldn't take it. She almost tripped as she was backing up, but Rossi stepped forward and saved her from the fall.

"He's going to be okay," Rossi said softly.

"Really?" J.J. asked. "Did you see his legs? He's bleeding, and it's not from…" J.J. stopped. A stray tear dropped from her face. She just couldn't say it. She couldn't

"I know," Rossi said. "But he's strong. He's a fighter, and I don't think he's going to give up easily. He needs us to be strong too."

The paramedics were running his vitals, and an oxygen max was put over his chapped lips. J.J. felt her blood running cold. None of this should have happened, but her complaining about to Rossi wasn't going to change anything. It wasn't going to take back time or the pain and agony that Hotch and Reid had to endure.

"We need to move him inside!" one of the EMTs shouted to the others.

J.J. knew why. Even with all of their lights they brought, it was still too dark outside. The snow was starting to fall harder, and the temperature just kept dropping. They had put socks over both of Reid's feet, and a blanket was helping to slowly warm his thin frame, but J.J. didn't think it was nearly enough. Shouldn't he have at least five blankets over him? Didn't he need more than just one pair of socks? What about his hands? J.J. kept assuring herself that these were trained professionals, and they knew what they were doing, but she was scared. She didn't want to lose Reid. Why weren't these paramedics working faster?

* * *

><p>Morgan wanted to keep watching the EMTs working over Hotch, but he was just about to go into the ambulance. He glanced at the body of the dead teenager on the floor, but there was nothing more he could do here. Once his friends were recovering in the hospital, he would work on finding out more about the son of a bitch with bad skin, but he had more important things to focus now. He nodded at Prentiss, and ran outside to find out where Rossi went. It was pitch black out there, but he could see enough to follow the footprints.<p>

The first people he saw were J.J. and Rossi who were standing just in front of the paramedics. He heard shouting voices, and his heart sped up. Something was going on. His friends didn't even notice as he walked up behind them. The scene he saw by an old tree took his breath away. He could barely see Reid with all of the paramedics running around. They were hovering over him, and yelling directions at one another. Morgan took a few steps forward just so he could see what was happening. They didn't act like this when they were helping Hotch.

Morgan didn't step as close as he could have because he didn't want to get in the way. The men kept grabbing tools from their bags, and he afraid that he would be in the way, but he could see enough from the spot he chose. Reid was jolting off the bed. The muscles in his arms and legs were violently twitching, and the paramedics were doing their best to keep him under control. It looked to Morgan like he was still unconscious, but why was he doing this? What was wrong with him? Morgan paced around the working men, but he didn't know what he could do to help. What was wrong with Reid?

Reid's skinny back arched off the bed, and then collapsed. The world seemed like it was at a standstill when Reid's head fell towards Morgan. His mouth was open, but the muscle spasms stopped. His breathing stopped. J.J. screamed, and that scream seemed to echo through the entire forest. Was all of this for real? Was Reid really dead? Morgan walked closer to the paramedics, and forgot about trying not to get in the way. All that he could see was Reid's much too pale face under the haunting light.

The paramedics grabbed one of their gadgets from the bag, and started applying CPR to Reid while they got it ready. CPR wasn't doing that much good, and so one of them took control of the device and put it over Reid's skinny chest. Morgan recognized it as a defibrillator, and while he never used one himself, he knew what they were used for. Paramedics were trained to use them when a patient needed to be resuscitated. Morgan held his breath while the younger man put his hands on the device, and J.J. was crying.

"One, two, three!" the man shouted.

The defibrillator made a loud buzzing noise, and Reid's body jumped on the bed. When Reid landed back on the bed, he still wasn't moving. Sweat ran down Morgan's face, and his heart felt like it was beating over a thousand beats a second.

"Come on Reid," Rossi whispered. "Come on."

"Wake up kid," Morgan whispered to himself. "Please."

"And again!" the paramedic ordered. "One, two, three!"

The current ran through Reid's worn out body, and his body lifted away from the bed. Unlike the first time though, Reid's mouth opened up wide. He started coughing, and deep breaths followed. When the coughing stopped, Reid didn't wake up. He never got up and looked around, but he was breathing and that's all that mattered. He relaxed back on the bed, and the paramedics got back to what they were doing before. Morgan leaned on the tree behind him, and tried to catch his own breath. Reid was the last person who needed to go through this, and yet, he was the one who had to suffer.

The EMTs had to lift the bed off the snow to get Reid to the ambulance. Morgan moved out of the way, and stood by J.J. and Rossi. J.J.'s face was completely red. Her nose was clogged, and she couldn't stop sniffling. Rossi looked like he was in a state of shock. He was still staring at the red patch in the snow, but he stood his ground. He was the only one of the three there that didn't need some kind of physical support. He kept his ground, and Morgan respected that.

"I think Prentiss went with Hotch," Morgan told them. "Did you want to ride with Reid J.J.?"

J.J. looked at the snow, and then glanced at the teenager lying in his own blood.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "I'll meet you guys there."

She ran after the paramedics, and Morgan stepped closer to Rossi. It was a relatively quiet night, and it probably would have been very peaceful on an ordinary night. While the snow was falling harder, Morgan imagined couples sipping hot chocolate in front of a fire or parents reading their children a story before bed. Morgan formed a fist in his hand, and punched it against that damned tree. The tree was a silent witness to all his young friend went to, and he hated it.

"He's going to make it through this," Rossi finally said.

"I know. I know he will," Morgan said.

He walked over to where the teenager was, and bent down to get a better look at him. The boy had snow covering up his hands, and his brown hair was blanketed with frost. Dried blood was all around where the bullet entered his body, but it still wasn't making sense. The kid wasn't wearing a jacket or a sweater. Hell, he wasn't even wearing a shirt. The jeans he was wearing had several holes in them, and the tennis shoes he wore looked too big for him.

"What's with him?" Morgan asked.

Rossi bent down next to Morgan, and dug the boy's hands out of the snow. He had some serious problems for sure, but he was still a kid. Morgan put the kid's hands on his stomach, and that's when he saw welts over his back. Morgan knew better than to move the body around before the crime investigators got there, but it looked like the boy had been beaten.

"When we got here, he was sitting on top of Reid," Rossi said. "He reached for the gun, and that's when I fired. It looked like he was going to try to shoot. I wasn't going to risk it."

"Did you notice these marks on his back?"

"Just before I shot him," Rossi said.

"Where the hell did he get these?" Morgan asked. "I think this is the younger brother. Daniel, right? He's smaller than the kid inside."

"I'm pretty sure he didn't get those from hiking," Rossi said.

"His father…that guy had an explosive temper. Not the brightest in the bunch, but it seems like he was the kind of guy to get angry fast. I wouldn't put him past beating his kids."

"And that's really all this boy is," Rossi said quietly. "He's just a kid."

It was odd though that somebody so young was involved in murders like this. Morgan saw teenagers kill all the time, but not like this. Daniel obviously came from an abusive household, but how did that escalate to torturing and murdering other people? He wanted to look at Daniel's bedroom right away, but he knew he had someone to call first. He got back on his feet and went over to look at the house. He could see all of the police rushing in and out, and he figured that this would probably be the best time to call.

"You found them?" an excited voice yelled into the phone after Morgan dialed.

"Hey baby mama," Morgan said smiling.

"Where are they? Can they talk? Can you put them on the phone? Were they together? What happened to the unsubs? Are Hotch and Reid going to the hospital? Which hospital?"

"Whoa, slow down baby girl. We found Hotch and Reid. They weren't together, but they are both on route to the hospital."

"How were they?"

"Not good," Morgan admitted. He couldn't lie to her. "Hotch had a really bad fever, and his legs were both bleeding. We almost lost Reid. We found the kid outside. Neither one of them were awake when they left."

"But they are going to get all better right?" Garcia asked quickly. She sounded like she was tearing up.

"Of course they are going to get better. What happened to your confidence in our team?"

"It's been hiding in a green box since they went missing, but I'm going to get it out, put a bow on it, and get to that hospital!"

"What are you on woman?" Morgan said laughing.

"Skittles and fairy dust," she replied.

"I'll see you when you get down here," Morgan said. He wanted to end the conversation before she started asking questions that he wouldn't be able to answer.

"You better have your butt inside by the time I get there. I can tell you're outside, and it's too cold to be building snowmen!"

Morgan smiled, at put the phone back in his pocket. Rossi was directing the arriving investigators where to find Daniel's body, and Morgan was sure that the sheriff of the town would be there any second. He sighed. He didn't like having to deal with that man.

Rossi walked up beside him, and dropped something in his hand. Morgan wasn't even sure what it was at first because it was so small. It looked like it was part of a necklace. He brought it closer to his face, and saw that it was a little flower.

"What is this?" Morgan asked.

"Looks like it belonged to a necklace," Rossi said taking it back in his hand. "I'm positive it's from someone's necklace. I just don't know who."

"Where did you find it?"

"It was on the tree where we found Reid. It was just sitting there like someone put it there. It helped us find Reid."

"Maybe it belonged to the mother," Morgan said.

"Maybe," Rossi said thoughtfully. "Maybe not."

Morgan wanted to know exactly what Rossi was thinking about. Rossi was on to something, and if Morgan hadn't been so distracted, he would have demanded to know exactly what the older man was thinking. Rossi usually got feelings about stuff like this, but they didn't have time to discuss Rossi's sixth sense. Sheriff Bill was making his way over to them.

* * *

><p>Rossi really wanted to get inside. The gloves were keeping his hands relatively warm, and the hat he was wearing kept the snow off his hair, but he was still cold. He was hoping to get inside when he saw the overweight sheriff making his way out the kitchen door. He had a brown coat over his uniform and a silly looking cowboy hat over his head. He was wearing gloves like the ones that Rossi had on, but he looked a lot warmer than Rossi felt.<p>

"What the hell is going on here?" he shouted at them when he got close enough. "Did I see Laura handcuffed? And then there was a body in the front yard, and I saw another one in the living room or family room or whatever you call that room."

"There's another one a few feet ahead of you," Rossi said quietly.

"What the hell? Why didn't you wait for me before you started shooting my citizens?"

"I think we should be the ones asking you what the hell is going on here," Morgan fired back. The darker agent was still sweating profusely, and Rossi knew the pain that Morgan was going through. Although the agony wasn't written on his face, Rossi knew.

"You listen to me!" Bill shouted.

"No, you listen to me," Morgan yelled. "We find our two agents bleeding together in this fucking house. Neither one of them are conscious, and we find some fat alcoholic threatening us before we even get on the property. Even after I shot the bastard, he kept coming at me! You explain to me what the hell happened here. Weren't you the one who came here to tell them about the meeting? Didn't you see any of this then?"

"I know this family," the sheriff replied after calming down a bit. "I know them, and they are good people. They must have been set up or something."

"The dead guy in the front is the father of this family, right? Yeah, he was the guy shooting at me. This doesn't look like a set up for me. This looks like an entire family was murdering innocent people right under the sheriff's nose to me."

"They came to church every Sunday," the sheriff argued. "I know them. The boys weren't even real trouble makers. The older one did get in trouble a little, but boys will be boys. Ya know? And the younger one, he was a genius or somethin."

"He was the one sitting on Agent Reid when I got here," Rossi said. "He was reaching for a weapon, and that's why I had to shoot him."

"This can't be happening," Bill said. Bill took off his hat, and sat down on one of the steps near the house. He wiped sweat off his brow, and sighed loudly.

"I think I also found Tommy," Rossi said. "I came around the back, and I saw a huge hole in the middle of an icy lake. And something that probably belonged to Tommy. I would start searching that lake soon. It's going to freeze over quickly on a night like this."

"Tommy is dead?" Bill asked. He suddenly looked a lot smaller than Rossi remember. It was like he was shrinking before their eyes.

Rossi did feel for the sheriff. His entire world was falling apart in front of his eyes, but he wasn't a victim here. If Daniel was really suffering from abuse at the hands of his parents, the sheriff was also someone to blame. There was no way that two kids could live in this town their entire life without someone noticing the way their parents treated them. It might never have escalated this far if the sheriff made sure that people recognized the signs of child abuse.

"And we did find something interesting," Rossi said squeezing the small flower in his hand. "It was on the tree that Agent Reid was by. It actually helped us find them."

Rossi presented the flower to the sheriff who took it in his hands. He looked it over, and unmistakable recognition swarmed over his face. He hung his head down, and gave the necklace piece back. He looked like he was about to cry.

"What is it?" Morgan asked quickly. "Does that belong to the mother?"

"No," Bill said. "It belongs, belonged, to Kate Parker. She wore it every day, but we didn't find it on her body. She was wearing it when I first met her five years ago. I told her this was the safest town in the United States. I told her that, and I just told the coroner that I should be the one to tell her parents what happened. I'll have to tell them after I talk to Tommy's parents. He wanted to make ships. You know that?"

"Yeah, I made him promise me free tickets for his maiden voyage," Morgan said.

"What am I going to do?" Bill asked.

"Get on your feet, and start telling your officers what to do. This is a crime scene. You can mope around about what you could have done later. There is a body out here that needs to get out of the snow. It's not going to move itself. You took the job as sheriff in this town. You need to start acting like this, and take control," Morgan said.

"Right," Bill said. He got up slowly, but he still didn't look confident. He put his hat back on, and went into the house.

"You didn't tell me that you guys found Tommy," Morgan said slowly.

"I never really had the time. We found that hole in the ice before we found Reid and Daniel. He probably saw something he shouldn't have."

"Let's get inside," Morgan said after a moment of silence for the murdered teenager. "The crime scene unit probably won't be able to find the body without our help."

* * *

><p>Sheriff Bill moved inside to the warmth and security of the old house, and started barking commands at his officers. He ordered about half of them outside to check out the frozen lake, and get ready to move Daniel's body after all of the evidence around it was recorded. He wasn't going to make any mistakes with this one. He was sure that he was going to make front page news with all of this. He just wished it wasn't with this family. He could already imagine the headlines cracking all kinds of Pyshco jokes because the family's last name was Bates. It would be hard to forget that Bates was also the last name of the killer in that movie.<p>

Several of his senior officers were already working on photographing the body in the living room. The still wet blood on the kid's forehead gave Bill the shivers. He could still remember how happy his father was the day Joseph was born. Being such a small town, Bill could remember almost all of the pregnancies of those who lived there. He never could have imagined in a million years that Joseph would end up like this. He bent down to the body, and closed his eyes once his officers were finished. Bill didn't know what role Joseph played in all of this, but Bill always knew to respect the dead.

"What do we think happened here?" Bill asked sharply to George. George was in his early 30s, and while he wasn't the best shot, he knew how to act in stressful situations. This was probably his first murder scene though. George was still young, and he wasn't working for the police when the first set of murders rolled around.

George looked up quickly, and for a second, it looked like he shocked that Bill was even talking to him. Bill didn't care if he was interrupting something that George thought was important. He wanted to know what happened here.

"A struggle sir," George stuttered out. "I think it started near the couch. The agent that was found here had significant amounts of blood on both of his legs, and if you look at the carpet, it looks identical to the agent's wounds. I think the agent found an opportunity to grab the gun, and then he attacked. A fight broke out closer to the wall. You can see smeared blood stains across the floor, and it ended with the agent shooting his captor. He was found collapsed against this wall."

Bill had to admit that George really know his stuff. Judging from the stains and marks on the floor, George's explanation was probably really close to what actually happened. Joseph was told to stay inside and watch over one of the agents while Daniel had to watch over the other one. The parents went outside to keep the other agents from getting in, and it all went to hell after that. There was only one survivor out of a family of four, and that was heartbreaking.

"Come outside with me," Bill told George. "I want to look at the other body with you."

"Yes sir," George said.

Bill led the way, but it was easy not to get lost. His officers brought enough equipment to light up the entire town. He followed the footprints in the snow, and came upon the scene that must have been a shocker to the agents who found it. His men were already securing the area, and it looked like the photographs had already been taking. The men were moving along, but he cleared a path for him to get to the body.

The boy was lying on his back with his hands on his stomach. Someone had already closed his eyes, but he wasn't a pretty sight to look at. Blood was covering his throat, and for some reason, the kid wasn't wearing a jacket. Hell, he wasn't even wearing shirt. He got on his knees, and looked over the small body. The gunshot was what killed him. There was no question about it, but why would the kid come out to the middle of the forest without a shirt on?

"Were they brothers?" George asked.

"Yes, Daniel was only 15," Bill said. "He was just a fucking kid."

George got on his knees next to Bill, and lightly touched Daniel with a gloved hand. He lifted the body up just inches from the ground to look at his back. George put his other hand against Daniel's back, and after a few moments, he relaxed the body back on the ground. He took off his rubber gloves, and looked back at Daniel.

"What is it?" Bill asked. He hated more than anything with people knew something he didn't.

"This kid has been beaten," George said. "His whole back. I can't see that well out here, but my guess is that it's been happening for some time. I'd like to check on the other kid."

Bill nodded in agreement, and this time, he didn't lead the way. George was grabbing more gloves from his pocket, and they were already on by the time they were inside. George dropped on his knees, and with the same delicacy he showed to Daniel, he lifted Joseph's body off the floor. He lifted up the back of the shirt, and his hand disappeared behind the cloth.

"Him too," George said softly.

"Damn," Bill said. "Do you think he was beaten recently or…?"

"I don't know. I'm not a doctor, but the coroner should be able to tell you more."

"Thanks," Bill said turning his back to the younger man.

He had two cases of child abuse in his own damned town. Two children were beaten, and he did nothing to stop it. He would hate himself forever for that. He still didn't know exactly how far these boys went involving the murders, but it couldn't have been that much. They were just kids. If he arrived to the scene earlier, he would have been able to save the boys. He would never have let kids get shot. Bill got on his feet, and went back outside to watch the officers working around the iced lake. He hoped to God that Tommy's body wasn't under there, but a bad feeling in his gut told him Tommy was. His town was falling apart.

* * *

><p>Morgan stood outside with his arms crossed over his chest. He felt better after getting a drink of water, but he would feel much better once he was inside for the night. As much as he wanted to though, he wasn't going to the hospital until they found out if Tommy was dead. Rossi stayed by his side, but both are them were physically exhausted. Walking around in a snow storm for long was enough to take down any man.<p>

"Prentiss said that Hotch is in surgery," Rossi said.

"Did he wake up at all during the ride?"

"She didn't say, but I think if he did, she would have told me. The hospital isn't very close."

"I know," Morgan said looking at the lake. "We can go right after this. I just want to see."

"If he is down there, he's gone," Rossi said gently.

"I know," Morgan said. "I know, but I just talked to him. I just talked to that kid earlier. I just talked to him and…" Morgan didn't know what else to see.

All of this still seemed like a dream. A terrible, terrible dream that just wouldn't end. Hotch couldn't stand at all, and was burning up with a damned fever, and Reid almost died in the middle of a forest. Hotch didn't deserve that, and Reid didn't deserve that. If Morgan waited until morning to come to this house, both of his friends would be dead. There was no way in hell that they could have survived the night.

The officers were working hard in front of them. They had limited resources to work with, but they were doing a good job. They broke most of the ice around them, and lights were shining through the black waters. The sheriff checked up on them every now and then, but he was busy with the three bodies that were on the property. He was having trouble keeping away the local media. A few curious photographers showed up, but most of them had been shooed away.

One terribly brave diver volunteered to go down into the lake to search through the boy, and after a few agonizing minutes, he returned to the surface. He was warmed up with a hot blanket waiting for him, and he told everybody that he thought he found the body. He attached it to a rope the officers were holding. Morgan and Rossi waited in silence while they pulled the body to the surface. The diver attached the rope to a white hand which was the first part of the body that was pulled through. Morgan held his breath while they tugged the rest of him out.

It was Tommy. That's all Morgan needed to know. There was no doubt in his mind that this poor soul was Tommy. The kid had been beaten beyond recognition. Morgan only knew it was him by his brown hair, and the shape of his body. As they laid him out on the ice, Morgan saw that most of his clothes had been stripped away. Tommy wasn't left with the dignity of having socks on his feet or even a shirt on his back. Everything was gone except for his dark jeans. He was frozen, but it didn't look like he had been in the lake that long. His hair was still loose, and his limbs didn't look like they were impossible to move.

"He was beaten," Rossi said. "With something big…a baseball bat or a crowbar maybe…"

Any blood that was on his face during the murder was long gone, but the damage was still there. His jaw, nose, and cheek looked broken. Both of his eyes had caved in, and Morgan was sure that several of his teeth were lost during his death. The bones in one of his hands looked completely shattered, and the arm connected to that hand was broken in more than one place. This kid had died one of the most terrible deaths that Morgan could have imagined. Drowning isn't what killed him. He didn't freeze to death either. He was beaten to death, and if Morgan had to guess the exact cause, he would be on severe trauma to the brain.

"I'm sorry," Rossi said when Morgan didn't say anything.

Morgan knelt down next to the kid, and put his hand on Tommy's hand. It didn't feel real. If Morgan had been doing his job correctly, Tommy would still be alive. He barely got there in time to save Hotch and Reid. If anything happened to them, he would never forgive himself. Ever. He was scared just thinking of the consequences of Reid's brush with death. What if he couldn't recover from it physically? What if he woke up and didn't remember anything? What if he would never wake up again? Morgan couldn't think about that. He just couldn't.

Rossi took off the black jacket he was wearing, and draped it over Tommy's chest. Morgan felt sick. He knew that he couldn't spend much longer outside without a coat or something, but he needed to pay his respects to the boy he let down.

"I'm sorry I let you down Tommy," Morgan whispered.

"Come on, we've got to get to the hospital," Rossi urged. "You're freezing."

"He's just a kid," Morgan said quietly.

"I know, but there's nothing more you can do. He's gone. We need to leave. The storm looks like it's getting worse."

Rossi was right, of course. The wind was blowing harder than it was before, and the snow was falling from the sky at a harsh rate. EMTs were standing just off the ice to take Tommy away, and the officers were just waiting for word to get the body. Morgan nodded to himself, and squeezed Tommy's frozen hand. He failed Tommy, but he wasn't going to fail Hotch and Reid. He needed to get to the hospital. They needed him now.

"Okay," Morgan finally said. "I'm ready."

Rossi helped Morgan to his feet, and they slowly walked off the ice. They didn't slip, but Rossi almost fell at least once. They held onto each other until they were back on steady ground. Morgan looked back once more at the kid he only met once, and then he walked with Rossi back to their car. He was ready to get out of that hell hole.

* * *

><p>J.J. didn't want to go with Reid to the hospital. She wanted to stay and help the others. There was still a lot of work to be done at the house, and she was positive that the hospital was going to dampen her spirits. She only changed her mind after Reid almost died in front of her eyes. His body was convulsing off the bed, and the paramedics could barely keep her younger friend under control, and then he just stopped. He stopped moving. He stopped breathing. He stopped living, and she felt herself die inside. She heard the scream escape her lips, but she couldn't control it. This was Spence, the kid who still liked goofy magic tricks and dressing up on Halloween. He was like a little brother to her. She couldn't bear the thought of losing him.<p>

Even after the EMTs got Spence breathing again, she still felt like she was in a state of shock. Nothing around her seemed real. She kept thinking that she was going to wake up, and this entire case was nothing more than a dream. That wasn't going to happen though. She really did almost lose Spence, and she didn't know what kind of shape Hotch was in, but she was betting it wasn't anything good. She was sure that she would have fallen down in the snow if Rossi wasn't behind her the entire time.

She didn't even hear them when they first asked her if she wanted to ride with Spence. She thought she was just dreaming that part too until she saw both of them looking at her. She wanted to say no. She wanted to stay behind and help in whatever way she could, and she knew she had to go. What would happen if Spence woke up in the ambulance? She wanted the first face he saw to be a friendly face, not one of a working stranger.

"Yeah," she said without thinking.

J.J. ran to keep up with the paramedics who were already back at the ambulance by the time she reached them. She sat inside, but she got stuck in the corner of the vehicle. Three men were standing around Reid, and they were still shouting at each other. She heard Reid's vitals being reported, and she heard the constant beeping assuring her that he was still alive. For some reason, that wasn't the most comforting sound to hear. The ride to the hospital was longer than she expected, but he didn't wake up once during their journey.

When she got out of the ambulance, the paramedics were already rushing themselves towards the building. She struggled to keep up with them, and that's when she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. People had a 6th sense that when somebody is busy, that's the time to call. She got the phone to her ear as soon as she was inside, and was slightly relieved to hear Garcia's voice on the other line.

"You're at the hospital, right?" Garcia asked.

"Yeah, I just got here," J.J. answered trying to follow the uniformed men.

"You're with Reid? How is he? Which hospital are you at? Is he awake? I'm getting a ride there, but I need to know which hospital. I'm going to bring them balloons. Is that okay? I was thinking of stuffed animals too so they can have something soft to sleep with in those icky beds. They need that. They haven't slept in a real bed…" Garcia sniffled into the phone, but she managed to hold back any sobbing.

"I think we're at the hospital in the next major city. They didn't have any hospitals back in that town. It took a while to get here."

"That's what they were telling me, but I'm on my way. Tell me, is he really okay? Derek said that Reid almost…didn't make it. What happened to him?"

"I don't know," J.J. said.

She managed to follow the paramedics to one of the back hallways, but they pushed her aside when they took Spence into another room. She assumed it was for operating, but she didn't go past the doors they took. She took one of the chairs in the hallway, and sat down. She felt a headache coming on, and she wasn't smart enough to even remember her purse.

"They just took him in for surgery. I don't think we're going to know for sure until the doctor comes out."

"You're scaring me with the tone of your voice," Garcia said.

J.J. didn't notice how she sounded. She just assumed she was talking normally, but how would that even be possible with everything she just went through? She would need to sleep for weeks to get those haunting images out of her head.

"I'm just tired I guess," J.J. said.

"I'll be there soon," Garcia said a few seconds later. She didn't sound convinced that J.J. was tired, but J.J. wasn't in the mood to talk about the horrible condition Spence was in.

J.J. put her phone back in her pocket, and put her hands over her head. She really was tired, but she wasn't leaving the hospital anytime soon. She figured that Prentiss was around. She went to the hospital with Hotch, and she might have heard something. J.J. rolled her neck, and went to find Prentiss. She needed some good news.

_yay for chapter 23. ill try to get the next chapter up faster but no promises. i still need 2 update my other story, and i havent even started that one. but plz review! xoxo_


	24. Chapter 24

_yay, chapter 24 is up and its a lil bit longer than usual! u guys happy? u should be lol. the chapter should have been up a lot sooner. it has been mostly done for like a week, and ive been trying 2 find the time just 2 finish it. its been annoying me just sitting there and whenever i sat down 2 write, something would come up. isnt that just so sad? well, here it is so enjoy! i miss daniel haha_

Prentiss wanted to say that nothing eventful happened on her way to the hospital. She wanted to tell the others that Hotch was unconscious the entire way there, and that his fever went down, but that was not the case. He kept fading in and out of consciousness, but whenever he was awake, it wasn't good. He was sweating profusely, and he couldn't stop himself from throwing up. The paramedics tried to keep him under control, but he was really sick. Even when nothing came up, the motion of arching his neck and leaning over continued. What was wrong with him?

"Reid," Hotch mumbled, his hair dripping with constant sweat.

She wanted to assure him that everything was going to be alright, but she didn't think her voice would be heard over the loud sounds the paramedics were making. She stayed put with her hands glued to her phone.

"Reid!" Hotch shouted loudly. "Reid!"

"His fever is rising," one of the paramedics yelled to the other.

Hotch leaned over like he was going to throw up again, but then he passed out. The paramedics put his tired head back on the pillow, and went back to work. Prentiss let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. She felt like she was getting sick herself just watching this.

"It's going to be okay ma'am," a soft spoken EMT told her.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Can't be sure yet. He's just starting to stabilize, but he's not out of the woods yet. If I had to guess though, I'd be betting on some kind of food poisoning."

Prentiss nodded. She was sure the young man said something else, but she was already back in her own world. Getting lost in her thoughts at a time like this probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, but she couldn't help it. It seemed like it was only yesterday that they just arrived here. She was joking with J.J. about stealing poor Reid's socks, and trying to make sure that Hotch got enough to eat despite the dire circumstances. Now, she was watching a bunch of strangers struggle to keep Hotch alive. What happened to him?

Hotch and Reid had been missing for less than a week, but from the heart wrenching condition he was in, it looked to be much longer. Both of his legs were in terrible shape. The paramedics had them covered up, but Prentiss would never be able to forget what she saw. One of his legs had to be broken. It was awkwardly placed on the bed, and she was sure it was swollen. The other leg was covered in dried blood, and the blood wasn't just in one spot. It was all over the entire leg. There were black bruises covering his stomach and most of his back. His head was littered with bloody marks, and Prentiss found it impossible to miss a clump of matted hair by his forehead. That was the sign of a serious head injury.

Prentiss followed the paramedics as long as she could once they reached the hospital. She didn't spot anyone in the waiting room, but a line of nurses were waiting in a back hallway. She watched the paramedics give Hotch's bed to one of the nurses, and then the group headed further into the hospital. Prentiss watched until they were out of sight, and then she collapsed into one of the empty chairs. She was grateful that nobody was else was there. She needed to be alone.

She pulled out her cell phone to tell the others that she made it to the hospital. As she texted Morgan, she decided not to give them any details. They would be able to see for themselves once they got there. They didn't need any added stress. The snow was still steadily falling outside, but the hospital had the heater on. She took off her gloves, and looked around the waiting room. Chairs were lined up against the walls, and there were a few television sets, but all they offered her was a black screen. It gave her terror that the hospital could be losing its electricity because of the storm, but that wasn't likely. Hospitals were made for these kinds of situations, and all of the lights were still on.

"Hello miss," an unfamiliar voice said.

Prentiss jumped to her feet, and saw an older man standing in one of the doorways. He was balding, but he still had patches of white hair near his ears and the back of his head. He had thin glasses on, and a white doctor's coat over his dress pants. He didn't look like a doctor that she normally saw in the emergency room, but this was a strange town.

"Doctor?" Prentiss asked. "How is he?"

"I'm not his doctor," the old man said smiling. "My son works here, and I thought it would be a good time to stop by for a visit. I work as the coroner."

"Your son is looking after Agent Hotchner?"

"Yes, Doctor Sullivan. I just call him Johnny, but don't tell him I told you that. You can just call me Ed. We were just about to have a snack when he got the call the agents were coming. He kept telling me it was goin be a slow night, and I kept reminding him that nothing is predictable with this kind of job."

Prentiss sat back down and put her hands over her head. Nothing this man could say would calm down her nerves. She was probably talking to the same man who determined the teacher's brutal cause of death, and he would be the guy who would look at the bodies found tonight. She was positive that the teen who tried to kill Hotch was dead, and so was the man in the front yard, but she knew there was another son.

"I like to say that my son is one of the best doctors here," Ed said offering a kind smile. "Your friend is in the best hands."

Prentiss was about to say something when her thoughts were interrupted by any opening door. She turned around and saw another group of paramedics wheeling someone inside. She didn't see the person on the bed, but she knew it was Reid. She knew it was the baby of their team, and that he was fighting for his life. J.J. was straggling in behind them, and her face was red from crying. It seemed like a lifetime while they pushed her dear friend into one of the back rooms, but she knew it must have only been seconds. J.J. followed them as far as she could.

"Why did you become a coroner?" Prentiss asked suddenly.

The older man turned away from the paramedics dealing with Reid, and put his hands into his pockets. He looked outside for a few seconds before turning to face her. He looked older than she remembered from just a few minutes before.

"My wife was one of the first victims of this psychopath," he said slowly. "My Penny went out of town to visit her sister, and she was supposed to come back in just a week. When she didn't come back, I called her sister to find out if she was staying longer. She didn't. Her sister said she left early on Friday, but that was the last time any of us saw her. The police found her car eventually, but it was like she just disappeared."

"I'm so sorry," Prentiss said quietly. She felt like a fool for asking him. She didn't mean to bring back harsh memories.

"Why are you sorry? You didn't kill her," Ed replied. "Johnny was just a little boy when all of this happened. When they found her car and her phone, I knew she was dead, but I didn't know what to tell him. How do you tell a 12 year old boy that his mom is never coming home? I didn't even want to believe it myself. I mean, I just talked to her Thursday night. It didn't seem possible that she was gone."

"How did you know that she was a victim of the killer in town?"

"Her body was one of the ones found in that big ol' ditch. Sheriff Bill didn't even want to tell me. He knew it was her, and he didn't tell me until the last minute. She was still wearing her wedding ring…But I knew, I knew, when my Penny didn't come home, I knew she was dead so that's when I got into autopsies. I was determined to find her body, and this career was the only way I would know for sure that it was my wife. It's funny though. When her body finally came, I wasn't allowed to do the autopsy. My partner had to do it. I just need to thank you for what you do. You caught the son of a bitch that did that to my Penny. He cut her face off. Her entire face was missing, and I…."

"Do you need to sit down?" Prentiss asked. She didn't want to hear any more of this sad tale. It was hard enough having to face what was happening to Reid and Hotch. She didn't want think about what the other victims also had to suffer through.

"No," Ed said. "I should probably just be on my way. I'm sure Bill will be calling me any second to take a look at the bodies. Do you know how many there were?"

"At least two," Prentiss answered. "Possibly more."

"Chin up," Ed said. "Everything is going to work out in the end. Just gotta keep your faith."

He smiled at her kindly, and walked into the storm just as J.J. found her. J.J. looked like she was ready to collapse at any minute. The younger woman was exhausted. Prentiss stood up, and wrapped her arms around J.J. when they finally met in the waiting room. J.J. accepted the hug, and Prentiss felt her cry on her shoulder. Prentiss didn't know how long they stood there, but it didn't matter. Everything had to work out in the end. It just had to.

* * *

><p>Doctor Dylan Gable wasn't that happy when he was called last minute into the hospital. He was on his way home when Sullivan told him that they found the missing agents. Gable assumed that they would be going to the coroner's office so he was surprised when Sullivan said he was needed in the emergency room. Sullivan would take the care of one agent, and Gable was in charge of the other one. Gable turned his car around, which wasn't easy in the snow storm, and headed back to the hospital.<p>

Gable was the youngest doctor working at that hospital. He was fresh out of school, and willingly took the first job offered to him. He was proud of his job because most of the kids from his class were still looking for work. He was a geek with thick glasses and few friends during his school years. He excelled in Math and Science, and was a favorite of most of his teachers. He liked to think that he came more out of his shell when he switched over to contacts in college, and he finally started to work out. The results were not immediate. It took a while for his skinny body to transform into one that he used to only see in magazines. He wasn't a body builder, but he was proud of how far he had come. He got married less than a year ago, and his first child was sleeping in her cradle at home. As beautiful as his wife was, he was thrilled that his little girl looked just like him. She was born with a head full of dark hair and her daddy's blue eyes. He knew that babies were born with blue eyes, but he was confident hers would stay blue.

He parked his car just near the emergency room doors, and unzipped his jacket. He held it over his head while he ran inside. He'd give almost anything to be up at home with baby Debbie and Catherine. He was sure his wife was wondering where he was. She usually waited up for him, but he didn't have time to text her yet. She would understand.

"What's up?" he asked one of the nurses once he was inside. He spotted a woman in the waiting room already, but she was alone.

"Two agents were found, both alive," Lisa told him. "Sullivan is already with the first one."

"Do we know what happened yet?"

"Nothing good," Lisa said.

That's when he heard the roar of the ambulance outside. He stood off to be out of their way when they got in the building. Lisa stood next to him, but neither one of them were talking. There was nothing to say. The paramedics went through the sliding doors with skilled control over the bed they were steering. Gable took a deep breath, and took his place next to one of the paramedics.

The man on the bed looked to be about Gable's age, maybe a few years younger. His light brown hair was wet, probably from melting snow, and Gable spotted a serious looking head wound underneath his hair. His skin had a blue tint to it, and Gable guessed that he had been kept outside for a long period of time for this to develop. His face and neck both were scattered with bruises, and his mouth was partially opened.

"Spencer Reid," Lisa announced when they got to the surgery room.

Gable pulled the sheet down, and that's when he spotted the black bruise on the young agent's chest. The bruise stretched across the man's rib cage, and the skin around the bruise was a strange mixture of red and blue. Gable couldn't guess what caused the original bruise, but the people who kept him captive only made it worse. The mark had spread down his stomach. Gable had never seen a bruise that bad in his entire life. The agent had almost random open wounds across his chest, stomach, and arms and several of them were still bleeding.

"We need to get him stitched up," Gable announced.

He thought about giving the agent something to put him to sleep, but it would be better if he was awake during the stitching. Gable wasn't sure how conscious the young man was, but he didn't want to put somebody with a serious head injury back to sleep. Gable's main concern was getting the agent hydrated and to get the blood back into him. He would concentrate next on the source of the terrible bruise that was scarring the thin body.

As Gable got ready to concentrate on the first open wound, the monitor beside him informed him that Reid's heart rate was speeding up. His shallow breaths became more erratic, and Reid's big eyes shot open. Gable stopped what he was doing, and took a step back. His nurses also froze in their positions. This never happened before. This wasn't supposed to happen. Their patient was sitting up in his bed looking like he just woke up from his grave. His haunted eyes looked bigger in the sharp lights, and his thin frame was trembling. The agent looked at Gable and the nurses, and then pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Get back!" he shouted as loud as he could. Gable noted that the voice was terribly weak, and it sounded strained.

"You're at the hospital," Gable told him.

"Don't touch me!" Reid screamed when one of the nurses tried approaching him. "Please, don't touch me. Go away!"

Gable thought about going back, and getting the woman who came in with Reid, but as he looked at the agent, he knew that wasn't going to be necessary. Reid was using his energy up fast, and he was already having trouble keeping his eyes open. He brought his legs up to his chest, and was going into a full out panic attack. Reid's eyes scanned over the tools on the table and the bright lights over his head. He was scared to death.

"My name is Doctor Gable," Gable tried again. "You're at the emergency room."

Agent Reid looked at him, but didn't say anything. It didn't look like he believed what Gable was saying, but Gable was willing to try again. He never stepped forward though. He wasn't going to scare the young agent more than he already was, but that damned nurse didn't have enough sense to even do that. When Reid wasn't looking in her direction, Kelsey casually went up to the bed with a few needles. Reid turned around and saw her, and almost fell off the bed in his attempt to get away. Just before he fell, his eyes rolled back into his head. His tired body fell safely on the bed, and Gable felt like smacking that nurse.

"What in the world were you doing?" Gable hissed a Kelsey when he was sure Reid wasn't awake.

"I was going to give him the shot. I couldn't do it if I wasn't near him. Duh."

"Just get out," Gable said.

He walked back over to the bed, and noticed dark blood was staining the sheets around the agent's legs. Gable glanced at one of the older nurses, and then back on the blood on the bed. This kid had been raped. This federal agent had been beaten and raped. Gable felt like puking, but he needed to act professional. He replaced the sheet over the agent, and went back to work on the stitching. These wounds couldn't get infected.

"Get out!" he shouted at Kelsey when he saw she was still lingering around.

She obeyed him this time, and left the operating room. He didn't need nurses that liked to upset the patients. Gable never dealt with someone like this before, and he wasn't sure he would know exactly what to do when the agent woke up again, but he knew this boy was going to suffer a lot more than just physical wounds.

* * *

><p>Morgan didn't want to leave Tommy lying in the ice. He wanted to bring the body back home to his parents. That's where the teenager needed to be. He needed to be home, but he was never going to see his home again. He was brutally murdered, and it was all Morgan's fault. Morgan hung his head while he walked with Rossi back to the house. He knew that he needed to be at the hospital with Hotch and Reid. When they woke up, he wanted to tell them that the monsters who did that to them were never coming back.<p>

Morgan walked up the steps of the back porch to go through the house. They could probably circle around the house to find their car, but it was easier just to walk through. Getting lost wasn't on Morgan's To Do List. Morgan spotted a group of men near Daniel's body in the snow, and another group of men were busy taking photographers of the room that Joseph's body was in. Morgan didn't give the little bastard more than a passing glance.

"Agents?" Bill asked coming out of a back room. "Could I have you look at this before you leave?"

"What is it?" Rossi asked.

"You should probably just see," Bill said.

Morgan followed him back with Rossi at his side. He saw several rooms to his left. He was sure that at least one was a closet, and the other one was probably a bedroom, but he didn't know what the other room was. It had a strange door on it, and several officers were in there. Morgan wanted to see what they were doing, but Bill was taking them in the other direction.

"Hey man," Morgan said. "What's over there?"

"Oh, that?" Bill asked turning around. "Freezer room. That's where the victims were kept. There's quite a bit of blood on the floors."

"Then why aren't we over there?"

Bill opened a door at the end of the hallway, and Morgan was greeted with a curious sight. It looked like a baby girl's room with pink walls, a white cradle lined with pink flowers, and a few teddy bears near a dresser. It certainly did not look like a room from this house.

"What the hell?" Morgan asked.

"What is this?" Rossi asked.

"We don't know yet, but I thought you'd want to see it before you left. The Bates never had a daughter so I don't know what this room is for, but it looks like there was blood on the carpet. See?" Bill asked pointing to a faded stain. "Looks like someone cleaned it up, but it is definitely blood."

Morgan stepped further into the room, and silently agreed with Bill that the substance on the carpet was blood. This family from hell kept Hotch and Reid locked in their freezer, but whose blood did this belong to? Were they kidnapping babies and somehow Morgan missed it? He looked over the dresser and cradle, and both were covered in dust. In fact, everything was covered in dust except for a rocking chair against one of the walls. He walked over to it, and saw blood in the seat of the chair and on the carpet underneath.

"I don't think it's from a kid," Morgan said. "Someone was sitting in this chair. Recently."

"And on the floor," Rossi said getting on his knees. "See the rope? Someone took Hotch or Reid in here, and there was some kind of struggle."

"Maybe the strange mother was playing dress up with them or something," Morgan suggested. They didn't have a daughter, and they didn't kidnap children, so what the hell was this room doing here? It didn't make sense.

"I'll find out," Bill said. "Just got through callin up the coroner. He'll be there to look at the bodies tonight. He kept sayin all this shit about how it could take weeks to find out the full results or something, but I made him promise to get me some information tonight."

"He's the same guy who looked at the teacher?" Morgan asked.

"Same guy," Bill said. "We only got one coroner here."

Morgan nodded, and thought back to shooting that bastard dead in the snow. The man didn't look worried at all when Morgan shot him. He died instantly from the second bullet, but did he really think he was going to get away with it? Did he think he could grab the gun, and manage to kill Morgan and Prentiss? There was something familiar about him though. Morgan was positive he saw the fat man at the meeting, but it wasn't that. Morgan saw him somewhere else.

"We should get going," Rossi said. "Call us if you get any new information."

"Will do agents," Bill said.

Morgan wiped his hand across his bow, and followed Rossi outside. He normally loved driving, but he let Rossi take the wheel this time. It was killing him inside not to remember where he saw the bastard that took Hotch and Reid. Morgan was positive he saw that man before. Hell, he might have even spoken to the son of a bitch. He just didn't know when or where, and he was giving himself a headache trying to remember.

* * *

><p>Laura refused to remain quiet on her ride to the police station. She wasn't going to allow the pigs who arrested her to have an easy job. She screamed, kicked the back of their seats, and threw her head against the window. She felt the blood fall from the side of her head, but the window didn't break. They had some pretty strong glass in the pig's car. She kept demanding to know what hospital Benjamin was being taken to, and where her boys were. She was sure that Daniel was scared to death. He was just a kid. He needed his mother.<p>

"Pipe down lady," one of the pigs snorted.

"I will not pipe down. You listen to me. You turn this car around right now, and take me back home. Now."

"Following orders," the other pig said. "Sheriff said to take you down and that's what I'm doing."

"So did you really kill all those people?"

"Killed every last one of them," Laura said smiling. She ran her tongue over her top lip, and then tried to spit at the pigs. It was impossible because of the damned barrier blocking them, but she could at least say she gave it the old American try.

"So what were you on lady when you tried to kill FBI agent?" the first pig asked.

"What was your Pa on when he banged into your Ma? Huh?" Laura shouted. "Now, let me out of here!"

The pigs stopped talking to her, but she was far from stopping. She screamed again, and slammed her head as hard as she could against the window. Her head was aching, but it was nothing compared to what her poor husband was going through. What was happening to her boys? Did they have to sit in the back in some cop car too? Her boys were too good that.

They pulled up in the front of the station, and took their sweet time getting out of the car. They were acting like she wasn't even there, and she was sick of being annoyed. She screamed again, and kicked the back of their seats with all of her strength. She was needed at home. They finally opened her door, and she saw that it was still snowing outside. They pulled her out of the vehicle, and she slammed her foot down on the pig's foot. He grunted, but he didn't drop her.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" some pig asked as he was coming out of the station.

"Bite me!" she shouted at this new stranger.

They were all the same to her, and she hated every last one of them. She couldn't figure out why she never suggested killing cops. She hated them, and Benjamin hated them. The gave him more tickets than he could count, and she'd probably have more than he did if she didn't find ways to talk her way out of it. The new pig took control of her handcuffs, and basically dragged her inside. She refused to cooperate with them. She wasn't going to help them at all.

"Come on lady!" the man begged.

"Bring me my children!" she spat at him.

He dragged her inside, and pushed her into the first cell she saw. She landed on her knees, and turned around as fast as she could. She hopped on her feet, but the cop locked the gate before she got there. She rammed her body against the black bars, but they didn't budge at all. She tried spitting at the damned bastard who locked her in there, but he was already out of her range. He was sitting in front of some computer, and the two cops who brought her there were by the door taking off their jackets. Every single one of them deserved to die.

"When will the sheriff be here?" one of them asked.

"Don't know. He's still on the scene. Do you know how many freakin bodies there were? They were everywhere!" the younger one exclaimed.

"Yeah, Jimmy was saying it's a mess over there. He said that three were dead, but there might be more. Isn't that crazy?"

Laura screamed again. Why weren't they paying attention her? She tried slipping her wrists out of the handcuffs, but they were tight. She felt the delicate skin on her writs tear, but she didn't cry. It didn't hurt that bad. How was she going to get out of there? She could break her hands and slip out of the handcuffs that way. She needed her arms free. She was out of breath from fighting, and the blood on the side of her head was causing her to want to itch.

"Sit down you old broad!" one of them shouted at her.

She tried spitting at them again, but her mouth was going dry. There was no way in hell that she was going to listen to anything they said until she got to see her family again. She figured she should probably get a lawyer too. She wasn't sure how much of them fancy guys cost, but she didn't know any other way to get out of there. She was getting a bad feeling that she was going to miss church on Sunday.

"I want my lawyer!" she yelled.

"You get a lawyer, but doubt one is goin want to drive down here in the middle of the snow storm," one of them told her. Sheriff is goin be back soon, and I'm sure he's gonna want to talk to you. Won't be surprised if one of the agents is here in the morning. Sure was stupid of you to kidnap one of them. You know that?"

She stuck her tongue at him, but relented. Spitting at them and tossing out her threats wasn't helping her situation. She backed into her cell, and sat down at the pathetic excuse for a bed against one of the walls. There wasn't a sheet or blanket on it, but it was warm in the station. Crazy people would probably be trying to strangle themselves with a sheet if one was provided. She wasn't crazy though. A silver toilet was across from the bed, but that's all that was in her tiny cell. There was barely any room to walk around.

The sheriff's station wasn't that big to begin with. It was a small town, and they never had more than two people locked up at one time. There were two cells beside the one she was locked in, and from where she was sitting, she could just see the main room. A brown desk was a few feet away from the front door, and a small television kept the deputies occupied when their jobs were slow. A few chairs sat along the opposite wall for any visitors, but Laura doubted that any visitors ever came here. The few people ever arrested in the town were released the next door, and it was nothing any more serious than a drinking problem.

She didn't know what time it was, but she knew she would never be able to sleep there. Who in the right mind could close their eyes when their families needed them? The pigs weren't doing anything to calm her nerves. They were still ignoring her, and seemed to be wrapped around whatever was playing on the television.

The officers weren't anything to brag about. They weren't the handsome and buff officers that she saw in her favorite Hollywood movies. They didn't have sparkling blue eyes or strong muscles protruding through their uniforms. The one who first arrested her wasn't bad looking, but he was nothing when compared to the stunning agent with the black hair and pale skin. The officer was just of average height with mousy brown hair and brown eyes. He was in his late 20s which was much younger than the other two, but he could easily get lost in a crowd. His face was one that was easily forgotten.

The second officer she met was about her husband's age. He also had a beer belly, and most of his hair had been lost over time. She could still spot a few traces of black hair near the back of his skull, but he was mostly bald. He had a long nose and black eyes, and while he looked like he would be able to tell an amazing joke, he wasn't someone that women looked for when they got married. There was no ring over his chubby finger which was no surprise.

The officer that she met at the station was in his 30s. He was much lighter than the other two. He had dirty blonde hair and green eyes. His skin was lightly tanned, but it wasn't going to last much longer with the winter season well on its way. He was the tallest of the three, and while some women might have found him attractive, he wasn't Laura's type. She liked her men with dark hair. God, she did miss Mister Hollywood. Was he even still alive? Did Joseph end up killing him or did he die from his injuries? She was sure he couldn't survive with all the blood he lost. It was a real shame. She did like him. She liked the virgin boy too, and he probably died before the damn pigs even got there. It was too cold out there, but maybe that was part of Daniel's plan. Freezing to death was a terrible way to die.

* * *

><p>Rossi was relieved when he finally got to the hospital. He knew that Morgan didn't want to leave. He wanted to stick around and investigate the strange bedroom, and even Rossi wanted to take a peak in the freezer the sheriff told them about, but they were needed at the hospital. Rossi wanted to be there when Hotch and Reid woke up. He was sure that they were both going to survive. Hotch was strong. He wasn't going to let a bunch of hillbillies beat him, and even though Reid wasn't as big or strong as anyone else on the team, but he wasn't a baby. He was a valuable member of their team, their family, and Reid wasn't a quitter. He proved that to the paramedics out in the snow. He did die. Rossi didn't know how long the young man wasn't breathing, but was dead and he came back. He came back because he wasn't ready to die. He was a fighter, and he was going to hang on.<p>

Rossi and Morgan found Prentiss and J.J. sitting in the waiting room. Garcia had just gotten there a few minutes before Rossi did. Rossi smiled when he saw Garcia was holding a large teddy bear, and there was a big shopping bag near her feet. He couldn't figure out when she had time to go shopping, but nothing she did surprised him anymore. He smiled at the fluffy bear sitting her lap. She really was this team's light in the dark. The entire world could be falling apart, and she would come up with some magical way to make everybody laugh. In fact, everyone there was wearing dark colors but not Garcia. She was wearing a dark purple dress with matching shoes, and pink tights, but no matter how cheerful she was dressed, despair was all over her face. Her eyes were staring at the floor, and her red nose told Rossi how much she had been crying.

Rossi took a seat next to Garcia, but Morgan chose to remain standing. He looked down the hallway to see if any doctors with valuable information were on their way, but it was empty. Most of the hospital looked abandoned which was strange. Rossi had never seen a hospital look this desolated before. There was an older woman reading a magazine at the check in point, but nobody else was in the waiting room. The televisions were shut off, and the only noise that Rossi heard was the wind blowing outside. As creepy at the hospital looked, it was probably better for Hotch and Reid. This would mean they have the doctors' total concentration.

"Any news?" Rossi asked to break the chilling silence.

"No," J.J. answered.

"So the only surviving member of that family is the mother?" Prentiss asked.

"Yeah," Rossi said. "It looks like both of her sons were killed instantly. The father probably would have survived if he didn't try attacking."

"The sheriff told us that it looks like both boys were victims of abuse," Morgan said. "They have pretty bad marks on their backs."

Rossi looked down at his feet. He didn't like to think about what those boys went through. He was sure that the abuse had been going on for a while which made it more sickening. The kids weren't that old. When did the abuse start? Why did it start? There was no excuse for something like that. No matter how terrible the kids were, they did not deserve to get beaten.

"Do you think they were forced to help their parents?" Prentiss asked.

"We're going to know for sure once Hotch and Reid wake up. For some reason, I don't think the mother is going to be a talker," Morgan said. "She was wearing the same damned sweater that I saw Miss Parker wearing when I met her. It was the same sweater."

Rossi didn't know Miss Parker, and he never met Tommy Phelps, but he was getting sick just thinking about what they had to go through. The victims went through hell, but it was becoming evident that so did the family. The parents were fully to blame, but the sons probably went through hell every day of their young lives, and that broke Rossi's heart.

"Agents?" a doctor asked from a doorway.

Rossi thought this man was the coroner at first. Their faces were very similar, and their body structure was basically the same, but this wasn't the man who looked at Parker's body. He was younger, but Rossi made a wise guess that this doctor was the coroner's son. Rossi never forgot a face. Sullivan's face was one that Rossi liked immediately. He looked kind.

J.J. quickly stood up next to Morgan, and Garcia was gathering her bag off the ground in case they needed to follow the doctor somewhere. Rossi remained in his seat, but was ready to leave if they needed to. Sullivan walked towards them with a clipboard in his hand, and he looked around the still empty waiting room. They were lucky to be there on such a calm night. It probably wouldn't be like that in the morning. There was bound to be at least one car accident to be blamed on the storm. Sullivan pulled one of the chairs in front of them, and ushered Morgan and J.J. to sit down.

"My name is John Sullivan, and I'm going to be in charge of Agent Hotchner's care. The surgery went fine. I was almost afraid that I was going to have to amputate one of his legs though. There were several long scratches going up and down his legs, and a few them have been infected. We managed to stitch them up, and I think if we manage to keep the wounds clean and he stays on his antibiotics, everything will heal nicely. His right leg was broken in three different places. One of them was on his femur, and the other two were just under his knee so he is going to be in a cast for a while."

"Could that be from the car accident?" Prentiss asked.

"That's likely," Sullivan said. "But he did not get those long scratches on his left leg from the car accident. They almost looked like they were from a pitch fork."

"That barn needs to be searched," Morgan muttered.

"Another concern of mine was severe dehydration combined with his food poisoning. I heard that he was throwing up on his way here, and he was still going through the motions when I first met him. My best guess is that he has salmonella. It's a type of food poisoning. He got it from eating some type of food that wasn't cooked properly."

"Is he going to be alright?" J.J. asked.

"Like I said, I expect a fully recovery, but it's not going to happen overnight. He's very lucky he got here when he did. He's lost a lot of blood, and I don't think I have ever seen someone so dehydrated in my time working here, but I'm going to have nurses with him all night. You are welcome to visit him, but I don't think he's going to be waking up anytime soon. Some of the pain medication I have given him is going to make him drowsy, and I don't think he's had sleep in a long time."

"Was there any signs of sexual assault?" Prentiss asked.

"Sexual assault?" Sullivan asked. "No. He has some bad bruising, and two of his fingers are broken, but no sexual assault."

J.J. sighed, and Garcia hugged her tightly. Rossi found it hard to be believe that Hotch was held captive by sexual sadists, and they never touched him. They might have put all of their energy into making Parker's last moments as hellish as possible, but he already knew that they did something to Reid. He saw the blood. He saw the bruises on his young friend's thighs, and he could imagine Reid's terrified screams. Rossi had to hold back his tears.

"Thank God," Prentiss whispered.

"I do want to thank all of you for what you've done," Sullivan told them leaning forward. "You caught the people who did this. I don't know who they are, and I don't want to know. One of their first victims was my mother. We didn't even have a body to bury until all of you got here. You came, and you saved two people who were taken by those monsters. They are the only ones who made it."

"Your mother?" Garcia asked.

"It was a long time ago," Sullivan said standing up. He straightened up his jacket, and looked towards the emergency room exit. Rossi could just see a group of people making their way inside. "Thank you for finding them. I don't think there would be any way I could possibly repay you for bringing my mother's killers to justice, but I am going to make sure that Agent Hotchner receives the best care possible."

Rossi could tell the doctor was near tears, and before any of them could offer their condolences for what happened to the doctor's mother, he hurried away. Death was hard to talk about. It didn't matter how long ago it happened. Rossi believed that everyone would eventually see their lost loved ones again, but that wasn't a very comforting thought to someone who was suffering because they lost their friend or family member.

"That poor man," Garcia said clutching onto the teddy bear.

"That family has probably hurt every single person living in this town one way or the other, but it's over. They are done with," Prentiss said.

All of them wanted to check on Hotch. They wanted to sit by his bedside and hold his hand until he woke up. They wanted to assure him that everything would be alright, and he would be going home soon to visit his son. They were just afraid to leave the waiting room. Sullivan didn't mention Reid at all or the doctor who was working on him. What if Reid's doctor came looking for them and they weren't there? Rossi knew it was silly. The other doctor would be able to find them easily, but they felt they should wait. No words were spoken, but they knew. They waited to see Hotch's doctor, and they would wait to find out what happened to their youngest.

* * *

><p>Morgan left to get coffee when Sullivan left, and he took his time with it. The emergency room was depressing him, and while the coffee room wasn't much better, it gave him a different view. It took a few trips to get all of his friends their coffee, but the warm liquid felt wonderful going down his throat. He didn't really need it to stay awake, and he wasn't thirsty, but he really wanted that coffee. He managed to get two coffees down by the time the others barely got halfway through their first one. The teenagers who came in when Sullivan was talking to them were already in the back. Garcia was trying to keep all of them awake and break the haunting silence, but no one was in the mood to talk. Morgan kept pacing back and forth just to keep himself busy. He wasn't in the mood to sit down.<p>

Reid's doctor didn't come for at least half an hour. J.J. and Garcia were almost asleep by then, and Rossi even looked like he was dozing off while pretending to read a magazine. It was going to be a long night for them, and it wasn't fair to make them all stay up. Morgan was about to suggest them going in to visit Hotch when the doctor showed up. The doctor looked to be only a few years older than Reid, and he was almost as tired as they were. His stringy hair was evidence that he had been sweating recently, and the way he held his body suggested that he wanted to sit down. Despite of this, he spotted the agents and hurried over them.

"Agent Rossi?" he asked looking at Morgan.

"No, I'm Agent Morgan," Morgan said smiling.

"Sorry about that," he said quickly. "Sheriff only gave me one name."

"Are you Reid's doctor?" J.J. asked.

"Agent Reid?" the doctor asked. "Yes, I'm Dylan Gable. Before I tell you anything else, I should probably tell all of you that he woke up."

"What?" Garcia cried out. "He's awake?"

Gable pulled the same chair out that Sullivan did, and sat down on it. Morgan sat down across from him without thinking twice. Reid shouldn't have been awake.

"What happened?' Morgan asked quietly.

"I was just looking over him when he woke up. He looked around, and he just started panicking. He didn't want any of us touching him, and he was breathing too fast. I was about to grab you," Gable said looking at J.J. "But I didn't need to after all. He was too weak to keep himself awake and he passed out after a few minutes. I've never had that happen to me before."

"He must have been so scared," Garcia said. Her eyes were glistening with tears.

"I tried explaining who I was and where he was, but he wasn't really listening. Maybe I look like the guy who did this to him?"

Morgan and Rossi shared a meaningful glance. Sullivan said everything went smoothly with Hotch, and that he hadn't woken up yet. If Reid was like this, it was very likely that Hotch would have some form of post-traumatic stress disorder as well. Who could do something like to Reid? Why did he have to go through that kind of torture? He went through more than enough went he was abducted by Henkle, and now there was this. Morgan would have gladly taken his place at the Bates house. He would have given up an arm just to have Reid never step on foot on that property, but it was too late for that. The Bates chose Reid, and they almost stole his life.

"I'm hoping he's going to do much better when he sees your faces," Gable said. "Waking up in a hospital room would be scary for anybody."

"Is he awake now?" J.J. asked.

"No. He's sleeping. He's been through a lot, and so he needs all of the rest he can get."

"What happened to him?" Prentiss asked.

"Agent Reid had a mild concussion, and while it doesn't look too severe, I'm having the nurses keep a close eye on him. That might also explain his behavior earlier. He's been beaten. He had cuts and bruises all over his body. Most of them were minor, but I did have to stitch up a few. The biggest concern for me was the internal bleeding. I'm sure you already know about the mark on his chest?"

"Isn't that from the car accident?" J.J. asked.

"I don't know what the original cause was, but it's been getting worse over time. Four of his ribs are broken, and he is terribly lucky that it didn't pierce his lungs or heart. I might do an x-ray later, but I'm confident that the broken ribs didn't hit any organs. If that happened, he probably wouldn't be here right now. He's badly dehydrated, and has been through some advanced stages of hypothermia. His lips and fingers were blue so we are warming him up gradually. Doing it too fast could be fatal, but he's lucky he got here when he did. He almost died."

Morgan kept quiet. Reid already did die. He watched Reid's body jerk uncontrollably, and he watched the kid breathe his last breath. Morgan would never be able to forget that moment. He could live a thousand different lives, but he wouldn't forget Reid dying right before his eyes.

"I'm keeping him under close supervision though. I did find something else rather startling," Gable said darting his eyes between J.J. and Garcia. Morgan knew what was coming. "He had been sexually assaulted. It doesn't look like anything was permanently damaged, but the bleeding did have me worried. We got him stitched up, but he's not going to be able to move very well for a while. He was raped more than once, and the last time looked recent."

Garcia was crying. J.J. wrapped her arm around her. All of them knew what happened to Reid. It was impossible to ignore the bloody snow, but hearing a doctor confirm it just made it so much harder. It felt worse than a blow to the head. The only thing that would make him feel better was to go beat the crap out of that woman sitting in jail. Prison was too good for someone like her. She deserved to rot. She needed to suffer like she made Hotch and Reid suffer. She needed to get hurt every single day for the rest of her life. Even with that kind of harsh punishment, that would still not make up for what she made Reid and Hotch go through. Hell was probably too good for her. She would probably make the devil miserable.

"I'm going to work with him though," Gable said. "He has a long road ahead of him, but I'm going to be there as much as I can. I don't want him having any visitors tonight. He needs rest more than anything, but I'm sure he'll want to see your faces when he wakes up. He'll need to."

"Thank you," Morgan said softly.

"All of you look like you could use some rest yourselves. Sleep soundly tonight. Your friends are in good hands now," Gable said offering a small smile. "They will be safe here."

Gable shook hands with Morgan, and made his back to check on Reid. Morgan sighed a breath of relief, and sank back into his chair. He knew that Gable was right. All of them were exhausted, mentally and physically, and a good night sleep would do wonders for them. As great as all of that sounded, he knew he couldn't go to sleep without visiting Hotch. None of them would be able to. As tired as they were, they needed to see him.

"He's going to need more than a teddy bear," Garcia said in between sobs.

"And he's going to need more than a medical doctor," Rossi added.

_i like both of my doctors i created. would i like them giving me a shot? no. would i like any1 giving me a shot? no. now that the shot situation is settled, i was talking with my mom about baby names (no, im not pregnant) and she said she liked the name daniel and i was like NO. hahaha. plz review! xoxo_


	25. Chapter 25

_i would make up some excuse about why it has taken so long to update but ya...i dont know why and i cant really think of a good excuse. i can just say i was out looking for unicorns and mermaids. i didnt find any. fail. but theres not many warnings in this chapter. u find more about laura and u meet a few new characters. i cant say much about them right now but i know that rickie will be pretty big_

Ed drove slowly back to his work. He wasn't that anxious to start looking at murdered corpses, but that was his job. He chose to do this kind of work, and he was going to stick with it. A small group of officers were waiting outside for him. Ed saw a few paramedics sitting in their van, and it was obvious that's where the bodies were. He parked his car out front, and after zipping up his jacket all the way, he made his way out to meet with the officers.

"Hello gentlemen," Ed called out.

"Sorry, but the sheriff wanted these bodies looked at tonight."

"I know, I know," Ed mumbled.

He found his keys, and unlocked the building. He took off his jacket while the officers went to get the bodies, and Ed went to work turning on the lights. He wished that his partner still wasn't out of town, but he was. There was no point in thinking about something he couldn't change. He just wished he didn't have to work on these bodies all by himself. The cops would be leaving soon enough, and then he would be alone with the bodies of psychopaths. He watched the bodies be brought in, and Ed directed them to be put on the tables. He was expecting two or three corpses so when a fourth one was laid out, Ed was surprised.

"Who is this?" Ed asked.

"Two of them are the Bates kids, one of them is the Bates dad, and the last one is some kid we found in the lake," the officer said.

"A kid in the lake?" Ed asked. That didn't seem like a situation that needed Ed to rush to identify the cause of death. While falling in a frozen lake wasn't exactly common, it wasn't unheard of.

"You're going to want to look at him," the officer said. "Falling the lake isn't what killed him."

Ed nodded. He didn't really want to know what killed the kid in the lake, but Ed would look at him first. He was probably the last victim of the murderers on the other tables. He deserved to be looked at before the others.

"How long do you think it will take?" the officer asked.

"A few hours to get an idea of what happened to them," Ed said truthfully. "To get more details, it will take a few weeks, but I'll tell you what I can tonight."

"I'll tell Bill," the officer said. "Did you need me to stay?"

"No, no, it's fine," Ed said smiling. He knew the younger man didn't want to be there, and Ed wasn't going to force him to. Most people didn't like to be around the presence of death. "You go on back. I'll call you when I find out anything."

"Thanks," the cop said smiling back. "Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything. It's kind of creepy in here, and you're not even alone yet."

"I'm used to it," Ed said. "But I promise you I'll call."

"Have a good night."

"You too," Ed said.

Ed watched him leave, and heard him shut the front door. Ed waited a few moments to make sure the cop was gone, and then he turned around back to the bodies. As he planned, he went over to the kid's body first. He put gloves over his hands, and turned on his tape recorder. He didn't always use it, his partner was usually with him, but it would be helpful in this situation. He unzipped the black bag the kid was in, and he was greeted with dark blood almost spilling out of the bag. It was covering the kid's face. Saying the lake isn't what killed him was an understatement. This kid had his face bashed in.

"First one tonight. Teenage boy. High school age. Maybe 16 years old? Somewhere around that age. He has brown hair. His face is covered in blood. I'm going to start working on getting it off him to see where the first injury occurred."

Ed picked up a wet cloth, and went to work wiping the blood off the kid's face. There was a lot of it, and while the cold water from the lake did get most of it off, there was still plenty for the doctor to scrub. Some of it was like glue on the kid's pale face, but Ed was stubborn. He wasn't going to stop until the blood was all gone. Ed found a black indent on the kid's forehead, and several large marks on his cheeks and nose. Just by feeling around, Ed could tell the kid's nose was broken. The skull had caved slightly in with the first blows, and both of the bones in his cheeks felt shattered.

"He was beaten. Badly. Baseball bat maybe? Something hard enough to break bone on impact. The skull caved in above the eyebrow. His nose is broken and so are his cheekbones. I think he was left in the snow after he died. His death happened only a minute or so after the beating started. I won't know for sure until after a full autopsy is done, but I'm guessing that a piece of his skull fell against his brain causing major internal bleeding and that is what killed him."

Ed unzipped the black bag further, and saw the kid's hands were black and blue. He picked one of the hands up, and sighed when it hung limply in his hand. The hand was stiff as it was expected to be, but the fingers were sticking out every which way. The hand was broken.

"It looks like he was trying to defend himself. One of his hands is completely shattered. When his hand broke, it was over for him. The beating went on for quite some time after he died. A beating with this kind of force would take some time, and the victim died in about a minute or so. The blood on his face wasn't easy to come off which is why I think he wasn't thrown into the lake for about an hour after his death. The blood froze on his face, and the killer or someone else came back to toss him in the lake. He doesn't have any socks or shoes on, and somebody took his shirt and jacket."

Ed sighed again, and looked at the teenager. The poor kid suffered a terrible death, and the killers tried to throw him away after they stole his belongings like he was trash. He was looking much better with the blood cleaned off him. There was still some bad bruising, but that would be able to be covered up with some good powder. The rest of the body looked like it was in alright condition. The beating is the reason that this boy would never see his high school graduation, and the cause of the beating was on one of the tables next to him. Ed took great care putting the boy's body in one of the freezers. Ed wasn't sure if his family would want him to further investigate the cause of death, but Ed didn't see any real need. It was time to let the boy rest.

He said a quick prayer for the boy's soul, and turned back around to look at the other three bodies still zipped up in black bags. One of the three was the reason his wife was dead. They were the reason the poor kid was dead. He felt the anger boiling up inside of him, but he wasn't going to let the anger take control. His wife wouldn't want him to live his life looking for revenge. She would want him to just do what he was hired to do, and that's what he was going to do. He walked over to one of the kid's bodies, and unzipped the bag.

* * *

><p>Morgan led the way down to Hotch's room. A nurse at the front desk was kind enough to tell them which room he was in, and since visiting Reid was out of the question that night, they silently agreed to go see Hotch. Morgan could tell that all of the girls were mentally and physically exhausted. None of them were complaining, but Morgan knew them well enough to see when they were tired. J.J. was rubbing her eyes when she thought no one was looking, and Prentiss looked like she was having trouble focusing. Garcia was the only one who wasn't trying to hide it. She would yawn in the open, and roll her neck to keep herself awake.<p>

It was quiet in the hospital. Morgan could only spot a few nurses running back and forth, but they weren't talking loudly to each other. They were stare at Morgan and the rest of them team as they walked by, but they weren't gossiping about what was happening. Most of them looked like they wanted to go back home. Nobody really wanted to work during a snow storm. Morgan could think of a thousand places that he could be, but the top of his list would always be with the people that needed him the most. He would rather spend the night in the hospital with Hotch and Reid than visit with lovely ladies back home or dance at a club.

"Room 363," Rossi said pointing out one of the last rooms on the right.

Morgan didn't need to remind any of them to be quiet. All of them were fully aware of the terrible shape that their team leader was in, and that he needed sleep more than anything. Rossi opened the door slowly, and the rest of them filed in behind him. The curtain was put up around the bed, but J.J. pulled it back. It didn't make much noise, but Morgan noticed that it didn't disturb Hotch at all. His superior was fast asleep in his bed.

It was strange seeing Hotch like that. He had an IV connected to one of his arms, and one of his legs was being raised off the bed. Morgan figured it was probably to help the bone grow back or something, but he didn't really care why it was lifted. The doctors knew what they were doing. Hotch was terribly pale. He didn't even look like was still alive, but the constant beeping from the various machines assured Morgan that he was. He had a few cuts on his face, but it looked like the majority of the damage was done to Hotch's legs. Morgan saw faint bruising on Hotch's wrists, probably from ropes or chains put there to restrain him, but he wasn't going to point it out to the others.

Garcia was already sitting down in the closest chair to the bed. She gently put the teddy bear by Hotch's pillow, and kissed his hand. Tears were streaming down her face as she took in how much Hotch suffered, and she was having a hard time keeping herself quiet about it.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to him. "You're going to get all better though. You are going to walk out of here, and we will be waiting for you."

J.J. came up behind Garcia, and offered a big hug. Prentiss sat down in a chair next to Garcia, and Rossi walked around to the other side of the bed, but Morgan couldn't move. He couldn't explain why. He saw Hotch in the house with the paramedics working on him, but it was different seeing him in a hospital bed. None of this would have happened if Morgan worked harder. If Morgan paid more attention to the kids in Parker's class, he would have been able to find Hotch and Reid sooner.

Morgan recognized seeing Benjamin Bates before, but he couldn't figure out where. It was just about an hour ago that Morgan remembered where. He was stopped at a diner with J.J., and that was when Benjamin and his wife tried to leave. One of them dropped a chair, and that was when Morgan looked that son of the bitch in the eyes and let him leave. It made sense now that the chain was part of Parker's necklace, and they were trying to find the missing piece. If Morgan arrested that bastard that night, Hotch and Reid would have been found sooner.

"You didn't cause this," Rossi said quietly. Morgan hadn't even seen him come back around. He was too warped in what Hotch had to be feeling when he was going through hell on earth. "None of this was your fault."

"I saw the Bates dad before though. If I stopped him when I first saw the son of a bitch," Morgan complained.

"You didn't know. None of us would have known," Rossi said gently.

"Yeah, well my mistake almost killed Hotch and Reid," Morgan said quickly. He knew it was wrong to blame himself. He knew that Rossi was right. He was usually right, but someone needed to be blamed and since Morgan was in charge of the team while Hotch was missing, he blamed himself. "My mistake killed Tommy Phelps."

"And if he was here, he wouldn't blame you for the second. There would be no way for you to know that he would go looking for the killers. When Hotch and Reid wake up, they will be telling you the same thing."

"I know," Morgan said.

"You can't be looking like this when Hotch wakes up," Rossi said. "He's going to need to see some cheery faces, and we are all looking like death warmed over."

"I guess we all need a good night's sleep," Morgan said.

"I don't think Hotch will be waking up anytime soon," Rossi said.

Morgan nodded, and went over to see Hotch. He heard Garcia's quiet sobs, and he put one of his hands on her shoulder. He squeezed Hotch's hand, and tried to see if Hotch was dreaming, but he couldn't tell. His eyes weren't moving around under the lids, and he wasn't moving around or moaning. He looked like he was just sleeping peacefully, and that's what he needed.

"We're all here for you Hotch," Morgan whispered. "Hang on."

* * *

><p>Bill didn't stay that long at the Bates house. He had the entire property blocked off from the public, and he was going to have officers on the scene all night. He also made sure to tape off the lake where Tommy's body was found. He didn't think they would find anything else by the lake that night, but he wanted to be safe. Somebody was murdered there, and so that entire area needed to be respected. He planned on having a cross put there in the morning so the kid would never be forgotten. Tommy was a Christian, and so he was sure Tommy's family would be grateful. Bill was willing to put up the cross himself if that's what it took.<p>

Bill wanted to drive over to the hospital to see how the wounded agents were holding up, but he decided to go to the station first. Laura Bates was sitting in one of his cells, and he wanted to have a word or two with her. He just couldn't believe that all of this happened right under his nose. He talked to this woman just the other day. He told her about that damned town meeting, and she just kept on smiling at him. He didn't know how much she was involved with the actual murders, but she wasn't just some innocent. She knew that people were being murdered in her house, and she still had the nerve to smile at the sheriff. He saw her at church last weekend. She sat across from him with her family. He just couldn't believe it.

He parked his car out front, and was relieved to see that the storm was letting up slightly. He didn't bother zipping up his jacket. He would be inside soon enough. He was going to have to give a talk to the deputies on duty. He left the best ones he had back at the house so the ones watching over Laura weren't the greatest ones, but he knew they weren't going to do anything stupid. He just needed to remind them not to talk to her. Laura wasn't very smart, and she didn't have many redeeming qualities, but he didn't want to risk anything going wrong. He wanted Laura in perfect condition for when she talked to the agents tomorrow.

A cold breeze blew in his face just as he opened the front door. He was greeted by a blast of warm air coming from inside. He heard the familiar sound of the television replaying some old ball game, and he could smell fresh coffee brewing. Two of his officers were sitting by the brown desk. Dave, his older and balding friend, was sitting at the desk with his eyes glued to the television. His beer belly hung over his pants, and the buttons in his shirt looked like they were almost ready to pop off. Bill needed to remind him to get a larger size. Jake, one of the few blonde men on duty, was sitting on top of the desk chewing on gum. Both of them jumped on when they saw Bill walk on.

"Evening gentlemen," Bill said.

"Hey Sheriff," Dave said.

"Just you two on duty?" Bill asked. He put his hat on one of the chairs by the door.

"Derek left like half an hour ago," Jake said. "But Rickie just got in."

Rickie was some deaf kid that had been passed from foster home to foster home ever since his parents abandoned him when he was just a baby. His current foster family, the Stanelys, put him to work as soon as they got him. The kid never stepped a foot in the high school so he didn't have any friends. The family claimed they home schooled him even though they sent their other children to school. Bill kept meaning to look into it, but he never got around to it. Things kept popping up. He wasn't too eager to take Rickie in when they offered him to help around, but they said it would keep him out of trouble. It took a while to get used to someone who couldn't hear or talk, but Bill finally warmed up to him. The kid could read lips, and he did a terrific job at the keeping the station clean. Bill just wished he wasn't here tonight.

"Where is Rickie?" Bill asked.

"Cleaning one of the cells," Jake said casually looking back at the television.

"When do I get my phone call?" Laura shouted.

Bill walked around the desk so he could see Laura in her cell. She was sitting on the bed, and staring at the wall in front of her. Her dark hair was pulled black in a sloppy ponytail, and most of the makeup she had on from earlier was coming off. She looked like a mess. Bill noticed that she was wearing nice black shoes, and dark tights that were mostly covered up by a long skirt with flowers on it. She pretty much looked just like she always did, but she was wearing the same pink sweater that Miss Parker had on when she went missing. The teacher wore that sweater a lot, and this woman was wearing it. She was wearing a dead woman's sweater, and complaining about getting a phone call.

"How has she been?" Bill whispered.

"Exactly the same as she is now," Dave answered quietly. "Been shouting, cursing, threatening us…She sure is something special."

"You shoulda seen her harassing Rickie when he got in," Jake said. "She was shouting all this sexual crap at him when his back was turned. It was pretty funny. She had no idea. She thought he was just ignoring her."

"You guys shouldn't have even allowed him to come in," Bill said.

"He barely even noticed her," Jake said.

"He's just a kid," Bill argued. He didn't want the kid here, but it didn't matter anymore. They were probably right. Rickie had no idea who the bitch was, and it was better that way. Bill knew that Rickie would rather be working than be at home.

"Stop talkin about me behind my back!" Laura shouted.

"I should go talk to the missus," Bill said smiling. "After I leave, don't talk to her. None of you. Got it?"

"We've been ignoring her all night," Dave said.

"Good. She doesn't need any more attention," Bill said.

He cleared his throat, and walked over to her cell. She cracked her neck, and finally looked over at him. She smiled sweetly, and Bill got a good look at her missing front teeth. Was this smile that last thing that all of those victims saw? It gave him shivers just to think about it.

"Missed you sheriff," Laura said.

"How are you doing?" Bill asked.

He heard Dave come up behind him and the older man unlocked Laura's cell to let him in. As soon as he was all the way in, Dave locked it again. They weren't taking any chances. Laura didn't seem to notice.

The cell was small. It was easy to forget that when he was standing on the outside. The mattress she was sitting on was just a twin size, and the rest of the cell featured a silver toilet and a concrete bench connected to the opposite wall. There was barely any walking room, but this room wasn't designed to keep criminals for a long time. In fact, Bill couldn't remember holding a person as dangerous as Laura was. If she was guilty of all the crimes she was being accused of, she was a full out psychopath. She was a serial killer, and Bill would do everything in his power to make sure this monster received the maximum penalty for her crimes.

"I want to go to the hospital to see my sons and my husband," Laura said calmly.

"Why do you think they are there?" Bill asked.

"I know they is. I saw my husband get shot. That black bastard shot him twice. Can you believe it? And he didn't do nothing wrong!"

"Why do you think your sons are there?" Bill asked.

"Cuz they ain't with me here," Laura answered. "Daniel been gettin bad headaches. I'm sure that's where you pigs took my boys."

"One of the FBI agents is going to talk to you tomorrow," Bill said changing the subject. He wasn't going to be the one to tell her that she was the last surviving member of their family.

"I don't want to see none of them," Laura said.

"But they want to see you," Bill said. "They want to talk to you about what you did. Do you remember what you did?"

"I didn't do nothing wrong," Laura said firmly.

"You are wearing Miss Parker's sweater," Bill said. "That was the same sweater she wore the last time anyone saw her. They found two federal agents on your property, and we found Tommy Phelps dead in the lake by your house."

"People fall in lakes all the time," she said.

"You killed him. You killed a teenage boy, a teacher, and you tried to murder two federal agents. I can't believe this. You pulled all this shit in my town!"

"You want to see me pull some shit sheriff?" Laura asked him licking her lips. "You bring me that kid you have workin here. You bring him to me, and we can watch some real shit go down."

Bill stood up suddenly, and slapped her across her face. Her head swung to one side, but she didn't cry or scream out. She looked back at him, and offered him the same creepy smile he saw from earlier.

"You comin on to me sheriff?" she asked.

"Get me out of here," Bill called out to Dave.

Dave unlocked the cell, and Bill made sure Laura was still seated before he got out. Dave quickly locked her cell back up. Laura was staring at them the entire time.

"Sorry for scaring you big ol' sheriff," Laura said. "You get me my husband and my boys, and then we can talk again. But I want me a good lawyer!"

Bill didn't say anything to her when he turned around. He got back to the desk that Jake was sitting at, and slammed his fist onto the study wood. Jake look startled, but didn't say anything. Bill couldn't believe that Laura was acting like this to him. He had known this woman since he first became sheriff, and she was treating him like dirt. She needed to rot. She needed to spend the rest of her life behind bars just for threatening Rickie like that. He didn't think he could wait until morning for the agents to talk to her.

* * *

><p>Dylan Gable went back to where the nurses were just finishing putting Agent Reid in his room. Gable gave Reid one of the biggest rooms in the hospital because he knew that he was going to be getting a lot of visitors, but that wouldn't happen until later. The first night in the hospital was going to be crucial, and Gable needed to be there to make sure Reid got through it. His fever was constantly rising and dropping, and while Gable did trust all of his nurses, he wasn't going to leave Reid alone just yet.<p>

He stopped in the hallway just outside of Reid's room, and pulled out his cell phone. There weren't many patients in the hospital, and Gable's wife had a right to know where he was. She could be worried that he was caught in the storm or something. He would rather be home with her right now. He would rather be wrapping himself in the blankets on their bed, and kissing his baby daughter on the forehead before she went to sleep, but he needed to be here. Gable knew that if he went to the hospital in a condition like Reid was, he would want his doctor there with him that first night as well. It was only fair.

"Hello?" Catherine asked when she picked up the phone.

"Hey honey, it's me," Dylan said softly.

"Hey, where are you? Weren't you supposed to be home like an hour ago?"

"Yeah, I was on my way when I got called back. I'm going to be spending the night here."

"Was there a car accident?" Catherine asked. "I heard a whole bunch of sirens earlier, and it was a bad snow storm out there."

"No car accidents so far," Dylan said. "The FBI agents just rescued some people who were with the crazy killer guy tonight."

"The guy who killed all those people in the ditch?" Catherine asked.

"Yep. Two of them were brought in, and I'm in charge of care for one of them He's not in good shape at all. I won't go into details, but he needs me here."

"Just thank God you weren't caught in the storm," Catherine said. "I was getting worried when I didn't hear from you, but it's good they finally found that killer."

"How is Debbie?"

"She went to bed a few hours ago," Catherine answered. "She's been sleeping good, but I'm still expecting her to wake up screaming around 2am."

Dylan laughed. Giving up their nights was one of the many joys of having a baby. Debbie had a bad habit of screaming between 2am and 4am every night. Catherine couldn't wait until the nightly routine stopped, but Dylan enjoyed it. He liked Debbie being so small. They weren't that little for long and he wanted to enjoy it while he could. It wouldn't be long before she was begging his car and going out on dates. He didn't look forward to that day.

"Well, give her a kiss for me," Dylan said.

"I'll give her two kisses from you," Catherine replied.

"I'll call you tomorrow," Dylan said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Catherine said. "Good night."

Dylan heard her hang up the phone, and he returned his cell to his pocket. He went to Reid's room, and looked in. The young agent was sleeping peacefully on his bed. The two nurses were checking his vitals, and making sure all of the stitching was holding up. Everything looked fine, but Dylan was ready in case something went wrong. Things tended to go wrong when he wasn't expecting it so he was prepared. He just prayed that Reid didn't wake up again. He gave the agent plenty of pain medication which was supposed to make him drowsy, but Dylan was going to keep a close eye on him. He was going to be there if Reid needed him.

* * *

><p>Rossi chose to stay behind when the others left. None of them really wanted to leave Hotch alone, and so it was hard getting any of them to leave. Garcia and J.J. were both near tears as the night went on, and Morgan looked like he was getting ready to collapse. All of them needed rest badly. After a lengthy debate, Rossi was chosen to stay with Hotch. He promised them that he would stay with Hotch all night, and call them immediately if anything changed. Rossi wasn't convinced at all that any of them would sleep. He was hoping that the girls would collapse as soon as they saw their beds, but he wasn't so sure about Morgan. He knew that Morgan was blaming himself for everything that happened. Rossi tried talking to him, but his words could only do so much.<p>

Rossi took the armchair by the window. He couldn't see anything outside, but it was comforting to hear the wind blowing. He found a magazine, and tried looking through it to keep himself awake, but there was only so much time that he could even pretend to be interested in what was happening with Lindsay Lohan or Tom Cruise. He wished that he had brought one of his books, but he didn't really plan on going to the hospital that night. He didn't think a book would do a good job of keeping him awake either. He was just as tired as the others were. He just did a better job at hiding it. He wanted to turn on the television, but he wasn't going to do anything that might wake Hotch up.

Rossi stood up, and stretched his arms over his head. If he wanted to stay awake, he couldn't keep sitting in a comfy and warm arm chair. He took off his coat, and walked around the room. It was a nice room, and Rossi saw that Jackie was Hotch's nurse for the next few hours. She had her name drawn on the white board next to a sloppy flower drawn with a red marker. The little cupboard by his bed was empty, and Rossi wondered if they were ever going to find the clothes that Hotch was wearing when he was abducted.

Rossi was wondering if he could sneak away for a moment to find out where Reid was staying when he heard a rusting coming from the bed. Rossi turned around, and saw Hotch moving his fingers. Rossi thought that the doctor had given Hotch enough pain medication to keep him fast asleep until the morning, but Hotch was clearly waking up. Rossi quickly sat down on the chair that Garcia first chose, and watched the chief leader's eyes move under their lids.

"Aaron?" Rossi asked gently.

Hotch opened his eyes slightly, and then shut them again. Rossi thought Hotch was going to be going back to sleep, but that was when Hotch's eyes shot open. His mouth dropped, and he was focusing on everything except for Rossi. He was looking up at the ceiling, and at the door leading out of the room. His breathing sped up, and he looked close to having a full out panic attack. Rossi put his hand on top of Hotch's and squeezed.

"It's alright. Everything is okay," Rossi said.

"What?" Hotch's voice sounded forced and strained.

"You're at a hospital. You just got here a few hours ago."

"Reid? Where's Reid?" Hotch asked quickly.

"He's in another room. He's resting, just like you should be."

Hotch didn't look convinced, but he let his head fall back down on his pillow. He took a deep breath, and sighed. He was still breathing much too fast, and Rossi was debating against grabbing a nurse. Hotch was going to get himself sicker if he didn't calm down.

"A hospital?" Hotch asked.

"Yes," Rossi answered.

"I need to see Reid," Hotch said.

He tried to get himself up, but Rossi held him down. Hotch wasn't going anywhere. Hotch needed to go back to sleep.

"Not now," Rossi said firmly. "He is still sleeping."

"I," Hotch started, but he fell back down on the pillow. He was clearly shaken up about something, but Rossi couldn't figure out what it was. "Don't leave him alone."

"He's not alone," Rossi said.

"Where's Laura?" Hotch asked sitting back up.

"Calm down," Rossi said. "You need to sleep. You won't be able to see Reid if you don't rest. You are sick. The doctor said you have pretty bad food poisoning."

"You don't understand," Hotch said. He was starting to shake, and Rossi was expecting him to throw up at any given second. "I need to see Reid."

"When he wakes up," Rossi said. "Aaron, you need to rest. You need to sleep. Everything is okay. You are safe now, and so is Reid."

Aaron was going through something in his own head that was causing him to act like this. He obviously knew that Reid had been raped. He probably even saw their youngest get raped, and that would be enough to send anyone over the edge. Rossi couldn't even imagine what that had to have been like, but he knew that it would never really be over. Once you saw something like that, you would never be able to just forget it. It would never go away.

"He's awake?" a nurse called out from the doorway.

She ran in without waiting for Rossi's response. Rossi stepped aside, and let the nurse who he assumed to be Jackie, do her work. She tried to keep Aaron on the pillow, but he wasn't really working with her. He avoided her touches, and almost fell off the bed trying to get away from her.

"It's okay Aaron," Rossi told him. "She's just a nurse."

"I need to see Reid," Hotch pleaded. "Please."

Jackie added a clear liquid to Hotch's IV, and it only took seconds to take effect. Rossi saw Hotch trying to fight the medication, but it soon took over. Hotch was asleep in less than a minute, and it was only then that the nurse was able to arrange him back in his bed. She pulled his covers back up, and made sure that his leg hadn't fallen out of the lift.

"How long ago did he wake up?"

"Just about five minutes ago," Rossi said.

"Was he trying to talk about what happened?"

"No," Rossi said. "Not really. He kept asking me to see Reid. That was really his main concern."

"I'm going to get the doctor," she said. "I don't think he broke anything, but Doctor Sullivan would want to know he woke up. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Rossi couldn't bring himself to sit back down. He was shaken up. Hotch was really panicking about seeing Reid. Was it just because Reid was raped or did something else happen? Did something else happen that the doctor didn't know about? Rossi wasn't going to ask Hotch directly when he woke back up. He might not even remember doing any of this by morning, but Rossi was worried. He was going to ask the others what they thought, but he wasn't going to tell any of them until the sun rose. They needed to sleep, and he knew that they would be on their way over if they found out Hotch woke up. Rossi would have to wait.

* * *

><p>Laura stayed quiet for the most part after the sheriff left. What else was there for her to do? They weren't telling her anything about her husband and children. It seemed like weeks since she had last seen them, and it was killing her. The last time she saw her beloved husband, he was bleeding badly and needed to see a doctor. She left Joseph inside to watch after Mister Hollywood, and she last saw her youngest out in the snow. She told him to get his little butt inside, but she didn't stay there long enough to see if he listened to her. It made sense that all three of them were in the hospital, but she had a right to see them.<p>

The two older pigs sat their fat asses in front of the television, and they talked as loudly as they could just to ignore her. Benjamin would have loved to be watching that silly ball game with them, but he wasn't given that option. That damned agent didn't give him a choice when he shot her husband. The agent was the one who deserved to be shot. He was the one who invaded their property, and broke into their house with the intent to cause damage. There wasn't any justice left in the world for sure. If there was, the pigs would be the ones who were locked up and she would be at the hospital with her husband and her boys.

She didn't think the sheriff was going to come back that night. She didn't know what time it was, but she had a strong feeling that is was really late. She wasn't going to be able to attend mass that weekend, but she was sure that God would understand. What she really needed to concentrate on was finding out how to get out of there. She stood up, and looked around her tiny room. There was no way that she would be able to break down the bars. She wasn't really that big, and she would probably just end up hurting herself. She didn't have any pins in her hair to pick at the lock, and she couldn't spot any little holes or cracks in the wall that she could make bigger to get out. She was completely sealed in the cell.

The only other way she could think of escaping was through the pigs themselves. None of them looked that bright. If they was any smarter than her, they wouldn't be working as cops. They would be going to school or working as doctors or something like that. She was probably smarter than any of them combined, and she knew she wasn't bad looking. It couldn't be that hard to try and seduce one of them…or all of them. She just needed for them to stop looking at the damned television for just a minute so she could work her magic. She was much prettier than anything they could see on that stupid ball game.

"Hey big guys," Laura called out. She wrapped her arms around the black bars, and pressed her body against it. It was hard trying to look good in jail, but she had to try.

The pigs didn't even acknowledge her. In fact, the blonde one in his chair turned his back towards her. She couldn't believe it.

"Come on boys, let mommy show you a good time."

Laura smiled as seductively as she knew how, and pulled her skirt up one of her knees. It was almost impossible to keep it up there when she was standing up, but she somehow managed. She let the boys get a wonderful view of the stockings she was wearing. She was sure they were getting a turn on, but when she turned to see their tongues hanging out, they weren't even looking in her direction. Blondie was laughing at the game, and baldie was working on putting some kind of chips in his fat mouth.

What the hell was wrong with these men? Were they gay or something? She sat back down on the pathetic excuse for a bed, and cleared her throat. Both of the pigs shouted out in joy when their team scored, and the kid that was working on keeping the place clean was dusting a cabinet on the far wall. She tried threatening this kid earlier. She figured that the cops treated this boy just like the FBI agents treated Reid. This was their baby, and they would do anything they possibly could to protect him. The sheriff sure did get mad when she mentioned the boy earlier.

The kid looked a lot like her sons. His skin was in better shape, but he had dark hair and pretty eyes just like her boys. He was closer to Joseph's age than Daniel, but it was hard to get a good look at the kid. He kept shuffling through papers or picking crap off the floor. Her kids could learn a few lessons from this guy about keeping house. She was sure that she would be able to convince the boy to help her out. He wouldn't want his own mother locked away in jail so he would be more than willing to help her.

"Hey kid," she whispered. She didn't want to attract the attention of the pigs.

The kid didn't turn around. He kept right on working.

"Hey," she said a little more loudly. She stood by the thick bars of her cell, but the kid still wasn't looking at her. He seemed better at ignoring her than the pigs were.

"Stop talking to him lady!" baldie barked at her.

He got his fat butt away from the television, and walked right up to her. The kid was finally looking towards her, but it was too late for her to talk to him. She would have to wait until baldie went back to blondie to pretend to act like real men. They were fools. He banged his fist against her bars, but she didn't back away. She wasn't afraid of an old man.

"Bite me," she said rolling her tongue over her top lip.

"I wouldn't bite you if you was the last lady on earth, got it?" baldie asked.

"Oh, you would officer, and you enjoy every snap!" Laura shouted. She slapped her hand on her butt, and laughed loudly. "Oh, if my husband were here…what he would do to you!"

"You need to sit yourself right down lady," baldie said.

"I ain't doin nothin you want until you give me what I want!" she shouted. "Let me see my husband!"

The boy was staring intently at her, but he still wasn't saying anything to help or hurt the situation she was in. He was probably just a queer or something. If her husband really was here, she enjoy watching him break all three of them. The kid needed to die just because he was refusing to help out a woman in dire need. He was a bastard.

Baldie turned away from her to face the kid. The boy looked completely shocked about what was going on here. He had to be hiding under a rock not to know that she was here. She had to be a local celebrity. She was sure she was. All the photographers would be wanting her picture soon.

"Rickie, you should just go home for tonight. We got it covered here."

The kid grabbed a little notebook from his pocket, and took a pen off the desk. He started scribbling something down, and held it up for the bald pig to see. Why the hell was he doing that?

"Fine, fine," badlie said looking around. "Just work on the windows in front then. Don't come back here again. Got it?"

Rickie nodded, and went to the front of the station like requested. It was weird that the boy would rather write something down than talk. Did he know how to talk? He was sure a weirdo if he didn't, but she needed to find a way out of here. Rickie was her only hope.

* * *

><p>J.J. got out of her bed, and sat at the desk by the window. She had been tossing and turning all night. She didn't think she got 5 minutes of sleep, and the sun would be coming up soon. She stayed as quiet as possible. The rest of her team were still lost in their dream worlds, and she would never want to take them away from that. She just wished she was still at the hospital or at the house or even at the station. She hated to not be doing something. She was wide awake, and she felt like she was just wasting time sitting around.<p>

She could have used a hot cup of coffee, but her room didn't come with a coffee maker. The hotel room was simple enough with a large bed, desk, television, a dresser, and a pretty nice bathroom. She thought about taking a shower earlier, but Prentiss was in the room next to hers and she didn't want to wake up her up. She would have to wait for her coffee and her shower. The snow had stopped falling hours ago, and she was sure that it was going to be a nice day. She just wanted to sneak out and get down to the hospital, but she didn't trust herself driving on the icy roads. All they needed was for her to get in a car accident.

She would go crazy if she had to sit in the room any longer though. She put on a big jacket, black boots, and headed downstairs. She held her breath while she locked the door behind her, and had to tiptoe down the stairs. Once she got to the lounge, she waited to see if anyone followed her down, but she was alone. She sat down on the couch in front of a fireplace, and stretched out her legs. She wished there was a fire going, but it didn't look like anyone else was up but her. She put her legs out on the couch, and laid her head down on one of the pillows when she heard someone else walk in. She quickly sat back up, and straightened out her hair.

"You don't need to get up dear," an older woman said.

J.J. looked around the couch and saw a woman in her 60s coming toward her. She had dyed red hair, and pretty green eyes. She was wearing a dress that looked like it came out _Little House on the Prairie_. With the dim light in the building, she could pass as a ghost. The woman didn't look like a threat in her flower patterned dress, but J.J. wanted to go back upstairs.

"I'm sorry ma'am. I was just going back to my room," J.J. said.

"No need. I'm one of the owners of this hotel," she said smiling. "My name is May Judd. You're one of the FBI agents?"

"Yes."

May sat down on the armchair next to her. It was strange that J.J. had never seen her before, but then again, J.J. was rarely at the hotel. She didn't want to be there. She wanted to be working.

"You look exhausted dear," May said.

"Just a little," J.J. admitted. "It's been a long week."

"Your friends won't be up for another few hours. You could take a little nap before they are ready to leave. You could even sleep here on the couch if you wanted."

"I should probably just go back to my room," J.J. said quickly.

"No, it's fine sweetie," May said.

She stood up, and dragged out a blanket from underneath the couch. She handed it to J.J. and added another pillow to the couch. J.J. was feeling more tired that she was than when she was in her room, but she didn't want to sleep downstairs. She didn't want the team finding her asleep on the couch.

"I made this blanket myself about 20 years ago when my fingers still worked properly. Sleep well agent. I'll make sure no one disturbs you until it's a proper hour."

J.J. wanted to argue and protest, but the older woman was already walking away. J.J. reluctantly put her head back on the pillow, and before she knew it, her eyes were closed. She wanted to see Hotch and Reid again. She didn't want to directly confront the sole survivor of the family that nearly killed them, but J.J. did want to see her. J.J. wanted to make sure that Laura Bates suffered the maximum penalty that the state offered. J.J. wanted to know how long the Bates brothers were abused by their parents, but she really wanted to be there when Hotch and Reid woke up. She finally fell asleep in the early hours of the morning with that on her mind.

_so let me know how u like the new characters and if u have any direction in how u think it should go. i really like rickie so i have some plans for him, but laura is something else. its going 2 b pretty fun when she finds out her entire family is dead haha. so let me know and plz review! xoxo_


	26. Chapter 26

_so i had most of this chapter written out for like 2 weeks or something. and i mean, MOST, of this chapter. pathetic right? reid wasnt talking to me at all and i needed the last bit to be about him so i had 2 wait. and wait. if you are angry, u must complain 2 him becuz it is clearly his fault haha. i was watching clips of carrie last night so i guess that got me back in2 the mood 2 write. and then today was the year anniversary of me losing my little dog so that got me n a writing mood. i miss her so much. but ya. here's the chapter. enjoy!_

Hotch's dreams were a mix of shapeless images and indescribable sounds. He felt like he was being thrown from one room into another which caused him a sleepless night. Nothing was making sense, and the more he tried to make of it, the more confusing it got. None of the visions from deep in his mind were staying with him longer than few seconds, and that was just making him more restless. He didn't know how many times he woke up during the longest night in his life, but he didn't remember any of it. Just like his dreams, they were gone instantly.

When Hotch finally awoke from his nightmares, he could just see the sun coming out from the window in his bedroom. Where was he? He couldn't remember. What was the last thing that happened? He was in the family room with Joseph he thought. They were fighting. As hard as he tried to remember what happened next, he couldn't. Nothing was coming to mind, but he certainly wasn't in the Bates house anymore. He was in a bed. He knew that much. Both of his legs felt bandaged up, and one of them was being raised above the bed. He shifted around to get a better view of where he was. There was a little table near where he was with a remote and a huge phone. He saw white curtains just by a little door he presumed was a bathroom, and he spotted a television in the corner of the room.

He was in a hospital. It was all making sense. He saw Rossi sleeping in an armchair, and that's when it hit him. Where was Reid? Was he back at the house? He sat up suddenly, and looked around. They couldn't have left Reid behind. If they found Hotch, it only made sense that they found Reid too, but where was he? The last he knew was that his young friend was outside with Daniel. What happened to them? He needed to talk to Reid. There would be no way in the world that Reid would be able to forgive him for what he did. Hotch raped him. No matter what the boy genius said to him, how could they possibly get by something like that? How?

"Hotch?" Rossi asked rubbing his eyes. "How are you feeling?"

Hotch looked at Rossi, and put his head back on the pillow. Rossi didn't know what happened back at that house. All that he knew was what the doctors told him. Hotch was going to have to tell them something though.

"I'm tired," Hotch said. "I have a headache, my mouth feels really dry, and I feel like I got run over by a truck."

"Do you remember last night?"

"Last night?" Hotch asked. He thought, but he couldn't remember anything. "What happened last night?"

"It doesn't matter," Rossi said getting up. "What do you remember?"

"I was fighting Joseph," Hotch said slowly as he tried to relive the scene. Everything was coming back to him in bits and pieces though. He couldn't remember the fight from beginning to end, and he couldn't understand why. "And we were in the freezer before that." Hotch wasn't going to tell Rossi about the rape. Not yet. Why the hell could he remember that so clearly but nothing before or after that?

"You've been through a lot," Rossi said slowly.

"I missed the part where the ever so brave Prince Rossi came riding in on his noble steed, and single handedly took down the Bates family," Hotch said a weak smile.

"That was the best part of the night," Rossi said smiling right back. "My noble steed was named Charlie. I sure do miss that guy.

"Where did you guys take the boys?" Hotch asked. "The younger one, Daniel, was really sick. I think he needs to be seen by a doctor."

"They are both dead," Rossi said quickly losing his smile. "Their dad is dead too. The mother is in a jail in the town."

"They're dead?" Hotch couldn't believe it. That didn't seem right, but he couldn't remember what happened. He was in the freezer. He remembered that part. He couldn't remember how he got there, but he was there. Reid was there. The family was watching, but his memory went blank after that. Why couldn't he remember?

"Benjamin and Laura Bates were outside waiting for us," Rossi said. He took the chair next to Hotch's bed, and took a deep breath. "I went around back with J.J. while Morgan and Prentiss went out front. I don't know exactly what happened, but I guess that Benjamin tried attacking them, and then only thing they could do was shoot. Laura went hysterical after her husband was killed, and that's how they got her. Joseph was already dead by the time we got there."

Does that mean Hotch killed him? Hotch remembered fighting with the kid. They were in the freezer, and then they were in the family room. Did they go back to the freezer? Hotch felt a headache coming on, but he didn't care. Why couldn't he remember?

"We found Daniel out back with Reid. He was sitting on top of Reid, and it was strange because he wasn't wearing a shirt and it was freezing out there. I told him to get off, and when he didn't cooperate, I had to shoot. He was armed, and I wasn't going to risk getting Reid hurt."

"He died?"

"Yeah, he died out in the snow."

Hotch didn't know how to feel. He certainly didn't like Daniel, but he didn't know if he wanted Daniel to be killed. Out of the entire family, Daniel was probably the only one who didn't deserve to death. He was a very confused kid, and he knew how badly Reid wanted to help him.

"It's good to finally meet you Agent Hotchner," an unfamiliar voice said.

Hotch jumped at the sound of another voice. He wasn't able to recognize the male voice, and that sent chills down his spine. His heart sped up, and he was scooting further back into his bed. He didn't realize what he was doing until Rossi put his hand on Hotch's hand. What was wrong with him? He saw a man in a white coat walking slowly into the room holding a clipboard. His instincts told him this man was nothing more than a doctor, but why couldn't Hotch control himself? He was terrified, and nothing his thoughts told him could calm him down.

* * *

><p>Rossi was hoping the doctor wouldn't come in for a few more hours. He wasn't able to see what kind of mental condition Hotch was in during the short time they had together. Hotch was suffering from some memory issues but that was perfectly normal when Rossi thought about what his friend had to go through. Rossi would be surprised if Hotch had no trouble remembering every last detail, but Hotch was human. His brain suppressed the memories that he couldn't understand or wanted to forget, but what else was Hotch hiding?<p>

Hotch literally jumped at the sound of the doctor's voice. He probably would have fallen off the bed if Rossi wasn't there to help calm him down. He wasn't even looking at Rossi anymore. His eyes were glued on the doctor that was just coming in for a quick check up. Hotch was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. There was no question about it. If the other doctor was truthful when he told them how Reid was flipping out when he woke up before the surgery, both Hotch and Reid had it. That wasn't good. He needed to tell the others.

"You sure are an early riser," Sullivan said.

"Who are you?" Hotch asked quickly. Rossi squeezed his hand, but Hotch gave no notice.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Doctor Sullivan," he said as he offered a hand for Hotch to shake. Hotch didn't take it. After a moment, Sullivan lowered his hand back down. "I'll be your doctor during your stay here. How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Hotch said.

"Just tired?" Sullivan asked. He circled around to the other side of the bed, and Hotch switched positions. He wasn't going to let his back be facing the doctor. "You've been through a lot."

"I'm just tired," Hotch said more firmly.

The doctor probably sensed what was wrong. He scribbled something into his paperwork, and offered Hotch a kind smile. Hotch never took his eyes off of him.

"I'll check back in later if that is alright with you," Sullivan said.

Hotch was trembling slightly under Rossi's grasp. He was nearing another collapse, and Rossi was grateful Sullivan understood that he wasn't helping. Rossi wanted to be there when Reid woke up. He needed to find out the exact mental state of their youngest before anything else. He wasn't going to be telling Hotch anything that happened with Laura or about the body of the kid they found in the river. The only thing Hotch needed to focus on was getting well.

"Fine," Hotch said.

"Just press the red button to call the nurses," Sullivan said gently. "If you start feeling faint or if one of your legs is hurting really bad, they can help. I'll be back in a few hours."

Rossi smiled at him, but Hotch didn't. Hotch didn't calm down his breathing until after the doctor had left the room. Only then did Hotch let out the breath of air he had been holding. He closed his eyes, and let his hand fall back on his pillow.

"You look tired," Rossi said.

"The doctors need to be looking after Reid, not me. He needs them more than I do," Hotch said with a weak voice.

"Both of you need doctors," Rossi said patiently. He noticed that Hotch's hand felt cold, and that his breathing was speeding up again.

"You don't understand," Hotch said.

Hotch needed to rest. He was having another breakdown that was similar to the one he had earlier. If he didn't stop doing this to himself, he was going to get sicker. He was sure that once Hotch saw Reid, things would start to get better, but Rossi didn't know when that would happen.

"Aaron, just breathe. The rest of the team is going to be here soon. Everything is fine. You just need to relax."

"I raped him," Hotch said in a loud whisper. "I did that to him. I didn't mean to. They made me. They were standing by the door, and they were watching us. I hurt him. He didn't say I did, but I know it hurt. He was bleeding, and I was making it worse. And the family…they were laughing at us and making all kinds of comments and…I don't know. I don't know."

Rossi didn't expect to get the secret out of Hotch that fast. He knew his superior was hiding something, but he didn't know what. Hotch was sweating, and his wide eyes made him look like he just saw a ghost. He didn't even know if what Hotch was saying was true. His mind could be making up all kinds of crazy ideas to fill the void of the empty memories, but Rossi didn't think so. It was making sense of why Hotch was so determined to see the boy genius.

"Reid is strong. He'll get past this just like you will. He will never blame you for what those people made you do," Rossi said.

"How can you get over someone raping you?" Hotch asked.

Rossi didn't know what to say. What could he say? He was usually so good with words, and always managed to say something that would bring peace, but he couldn't think of a single thing to say. This wasn't a typical situation, but Rossi had never been at a loss of words like this before. How could someone get over a friend raping them?

* * *

><p>It had been a long night for Laura. As tired as she was, she made sure that she didn't sleep for a single second. She wasn't going to sleep until one of the pigs told her where her family was. They shouldn't have been keeping her husband in a different jail as her. That just didn't seem right, and if her boys were staying with some nice family while she was locked up, she had a right to know which family. Her boys needed their mother just like she needed them. She had never been away from them for this long before.<p>

The strange kid left about an hour after the sheriff did last night, but he was there bright and early this morning. He was the only one who offered her any kind of food or liquid. She refused to touch it while he was standing there, but as soon as his back was turned, she grabbed the cup of water. She drank the whole thing in less than a minute. Her mouth was really dry, but she refused to touch the food. She wasn't going to eat anything until she saw her boys again. Baldie and blondie had been replaced with two new officers. They ignored her almost as much as the kid did. Where did people like this come from? Didn't their mothers teach them to respect ladies? She hadn't seen the sheriff since last night, and none of Hollywood's friends came in to pay her a visit. She thought she would be on the top of their list of people to talk to, but she hadn't seen a single one of them.

Her husband was probably planning some brilliant escape from where he was being held, and he would tease her forever if she wasn't able to do the same. Her jail cell was solid enough. She figured that out last night, but there were three other possibilities of her getting out. The first two were just like the fools from earlier. One of them kept stuffing his mouth with some kind of candy bar, and the other one had his eyes glued to the news. Laura never liked the news lady. Her voice annoyed the hell out of Laura. If Laura wanted to hear a squirrel like voice, she would turn on a cartoon. Mrs. Squirrel seemed to entertain the old man though. He kept smiling, and every once in a while, he would point to the screen and laugh. They were both fools.

The other possibility was that weird kid. She had been watching him closely since there was really nothing else she could stare at. He didn't even seem to notice most of the time. He never said a single word to anyone, and while that was bizarre, she found out that the freak carried around a pad of paper in his back pocket. Whenever he had something to say, he would scribble on it and present it to the other pigs. Was he doing that on purpose so she wouldn't know what the brat was saying? Nothing he could be telling them was worth all of the effort he went to. How could a teenage boy work all these hours and not say a word?

She decided to try communicating with the freak again since there was nothing else for her to do. She banged one of her hands against the bars when the kid was near, but he didn't even jump. She managed to get the old cop to jump in his seat, but the kid didn't even turn around. What the hell was wrong with this weirdo? No wonder he worked in jail all day. He would be locked up here soon enough if he kept acting like this.

"Hey kid," she whispered.

The idiot didn't even look like he heard her. She got frustrated easy, but anyone would get annoyed when they were being ignored like this. She grabbed the cup off her bed, and aimed it at the kid who was picking shit off the floor. It hit him on one of his cheeks, and he finally looked over at her. He put his hand to his cheek, and rubbed the forming red mark on it. He picked up the cup off the floor, and approached her cell. He lifted up the cup at her, and pointed over at the water cooler as if to ask her if she wanted more. Freak.

"No, don't want more water," she said. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

He put the cup down, and stepped closer to her. He put his hands over his ears, and shook his head. Then he put both of his hands on his mouth and shook his head. Laura didn't have any idea what he was doing. He probably worked as a mime or something when he wasn't busy cleaning up freakin jail stations.

"You a mime?" she asked.

He smiled, and pulled out the stupid pad of paper. He glanced at her before he started scribbling on the paper. He could even be some fancy dancy writer thinking of ideas for a new book. If that was so, she deserved a starring role. He tore the paper off from the rest of them, and held it up for her to see.

"_Can't hear to talk. I'm Rickie. Who are you?"_

She laughed loudly, and slapped a hand against her knees. She knew this kid was a freak from the second she saw him. What kind of idiot couldn't hear? His parents must have been low lives to make a kid like this.

"Laura," she managed to say between laughs. "You can read lips?"

Rickie nodded, but he didn't look amused at her laughing at him. This kid could join the circus or something. He could make a wonderful living having people throw things at him. He wouldn't even hear them coming. Benjamin would love to have a boy like this in the house. It would be too easy to kill him. Laura laughed harder just thinking about it.

"_What's so funny?_" Rickie wrote.

"Shut up lady!" one of the new pigs shouted.

"Bite me!" she screamed back. Rickie turned around to see what they were doing, but neither one of them got up so he looked back at Laura. "Nothin is funny. Just…nothin at all is funny. Where your parents?"

"_Orphan._"

She laughed again. This was too perfect. All she needed to do was convince this freak of nature to get her the keys. She would unlock her cell, and take him as a hostage until she found her husband and kids. She would give deaf and dumb to her husband as a gift, and they would find someplace else new to live. She was confident they would be able to find something that day. All kind of houses were abandoned deep in the woods. City folk got afraid of the noises they heard in the dark, and were all too eager to leave the next day. Most of them didn't even bother packing up so they would be able to live comfortably for a while. Her husband would have to take up hunting for a while until the town forgot what they did, but they would have a nice Christmas. She could even send her boys to their old house to grab their clothes and stuff when night fell. Everything was going to work out just fine for her.

* * *

><p>Morgan was up at the crack of dawn. He didn't sleep that well, and the dreams that he had only left him even more restless. The haunting dreams were filled with images of what Hotch and Reid went through at the Bates house. He combined the bloody freezer with their agonizing screams, and the nightmares tried to assure him that he lost the battle. When he finally found his dearest friends, their limp bodies were alone in the snow. He woke up with his face full of sweat, and he was breathing out of his mouth. It was just past 5am, but he knew he couldn't sleep anymore. He had never been so happy for the morning before.<p>

He threw a gray shirt on, and put a jacket over that. He didn't know how cold it would be out there today, but he didn't want to deal with the girls complaining that he never dressed warm enough on top of dealing with what kind of condition Reid and Hotch were in. He also planned on visiting with Laura that day. There was no question that he was going to talk to that woman, but he needed to see his friends first. They mattered more than anything.

Morgan checked his phone, and when he didn't see any new text messages, he wrote Rossi. He didn't know if Rossi would be up this morning. If everything went well last night, Rossi would be fast asleep in some big chair, but the first night was always the worst. Hotch and Reid went through hell. How in the world would they just be able to sleep after something like that? He wanted to call Rossi, to talk to him personally, but he didn't want to wake the others up. Garcia was in the room next to his. She needed her sleep.

"_How is everything?"_ Morgan asked.

He set the phone down when he went to find his shoes, and that's when the phone vibrated. That was faster than he expected.

"_Hotch had nightmares all night. Think he has ptsd."_

"_Why?"_

"_He wouldn't let doctor come near him. He didn't talk again till after doctor left."_

Morgan sighed, and set the phone back down. He had a feeling something like this was going to happen. He was just grateful that Hotch wasn't flipping out around Rossi. He knew of several cases where the victim wouldn't let anyone come near them. Some of them would never recover, but that wasn't going to happen with Hotch.

"_Hear from Reid's doctor?"_ Morgan asked.

"_Not yet, but I'll let u know."_

Morgan found his shoes near his bed, and got to work putting them on. He had barely been up for half an hour, but it felt much longer. He was so eager to get to the hospital, but he had to wait. Just because he was up and ready to go didn't mean the others were. He didn't hear any movement at all coming from Garcia's room, and the hallway outside his door was quiet. He was probably the only one awake in the entire hotel. He would do almost anything for a hot cup of coffee, but he couldn't find a damned coffee maker in his room.

He held his breath, and quietly opened the door. The door gave a loud squeak as it reluctantly opened, and Morgan felt like kicking it because of its lack of cooperation, but he had to be quiet. He slipped out, and held his breath again while the old door announced to the empty hallway that is was closing. He took big steps over to the staircase, and after making sure that the others were still sleeping, he went downstairs.

There wasn't anyone at the front desk. A little bell was put next to a sign-in sheet to call someone over, but Morgan didn't think anyone would hear the call this early. He glanced at the old paintings lining the walls, and saw a big couch near the dying fire. A coffee maker would be in that room. It had to be. He went over in that direction, and saw that someone was sleeping on the couch. That was strange. Maybe they got here really late last night, and with no one to get them a room, the sofa was their only choice. Morgan was going to go back in the direction he came from when he saw blonde hair. He peaked over the couch, and saw that it was J.J. sleeping on the couch. Why was she out of her bed?

"Huh?" J.J. asked. She rubbed her eyes slowly, but when she opened them, she sat right up.

"Couldn't sleep?" Morgan asked.

She saw him standing behind the couch, and swung her legs on the floor. The blanket that was over her fell to the side. She looked like a mess.

"No, I…What time is it?"

"Not even 6am yet. Why did you come down here?"

"I was just waiting for you guys to wake up. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"I don't think any of us got a good night's sleep last night," Morgan said.

"Did you hear from Rossi?"

Morgan sat down on the armchair next to the couch. He practically sunk into the cushion, and he imagined this would be a wonderful armchair for someone who wasn't as stressed as he was.

"Hotch had nightmares all night," Morgan said. "He hasn't seen Reid's doctor yet."

"No news from the sheriff?" J.J. asked pulling out her own phone.

"Not yet," Morgan answered. He wasn't expecting to hear from the sheriff this soon though.

"I just was wondering if the boys really were beaten."

"Even if they were, that doesn't give them the excuse to go out and murder people," Morgan said.

"We don't know how much they were really involved," J.J. argued.

"We know that you and Rossi found the younger one sitting on top of Reid with a weapon, and that Hotch killed the other one before passing out. They weren't innocent kids."

"Nobody could sleep?" Prentiss asked.

Morgan didn't even hear her come up. He turned around, and saw her halfway down the huge staircase. She was dressed warmly, in black like usual, and she had gloves over hands. The assortment of clothes made her look paler than she normally did.

"What time did you wake up?" Morgan asked.

"I was up before you," Prentiss said. She got down the stairs, and glanced at the fireplace. "I heard you moving around, and that phone of yours vibrates loud. What did Rossi say?"

"That Hotch had a rough night," Morgan said. "No news from Reid's doctor yet."

"And there's no coffee in here," J.J. said smiling.

Prentiss smiled in return, but Morgan knew she wasn't thinking about coffee. All of them were mentally preparing themselves for waited for them at the hospital. They knew was Hotch and Reid went through. The doctors told them probably more than they wanted to know, but now it was time to see them. None of them really knew what to expect. It was different with every single person who went through something like this.

"Where's the hot chocolate maker?" Garcia wailed from the top of the stairs. "It's cold in here!"

Morgan smiled to himself. She could brighten up any room she went into. She was certainly one of a kind, and he loved her to death. She had a bright green jacket on over a pretty skirt and hot pink tights. She looked like she was ready to go to some fashion show while the rest of them looked like they were going to a funeral. If more people were like her, the world would be a better place to live.

"You guys weren't going to go the hospital without me, right?" she asked once she got downstairs.

"Of course not," J.J. said. "I actually just woke up."

"How is boss man and boy genius?"

"They aren't good," Morgan admitted. He wasn't going to lie to her. "We need to get down there."

"I'm ready when you are," she said.

"Let's go," Prentiss said.

Prentiss took hold of Garcia's big bag, and J.J. led the way outside. It wasn't snowing anymore, but it felt colder than it was last night. The cold hit Morgan's nose first, but he wasn't going to let that get to him. He needed to get to the hospital. That was the only thing on his mind.

* * *

><p>Bill got home last night, and after sleeping for a few hours with his wife, he went back to the crime scene. He didn't want to go to the station yet. He didn't want to have to see Laura again for a while. He thought he knew every single person who lived in his town, and he did until last night. She proved him wrong. She proved him terribly wrong. How could you talk to somebody like that? He would do anything in his power to make sure that woman received the maximum penalty. If that was the death penalty, so be it.<p>

"Honey, do you have to wake up so early?" his wife asked rolling over on the bed.

"Gotta. I want to get back to the crime scene. Need to see if the boys found out anything else."

"Who do you have watching that woman?" she asked sleepily.

"Jake and Dave were watching her last night. I think it's John Luke and Beau this morning. Rickie is with them. I left them strict orders not to talk to her."

"Why do you have Rickie there?"

"Just doin his normal chores," Bill said putting his tie on. "Not like he's talking to her." Bill chuckled at the thought.

"He shouldn't be around a murderer," his wife said. "He's a kid Bill. Boys his age are really influential."

"Yeah, I know. I'll let him know that he can take a few days off until we figure out what we're going to do with her."

"You do that," she said yawning. "I'm going back to bed."

He kissed her on the cheek, but didn't say anything else. He didn't check his phone until he was in his car. It didn't look like anyone called him, but sometimes it took a few minutes for his phone to load. He didn't want to wait though. He called the coroner.

"Morning sheriff," Ed said answering the phone.

"Did you finish looking at the bodies?"

"I don't have a lot of the details done. Some of it can take several weeks to get back from the lab, but I did a general autopsy."

"And?" Bill asked.

"You guys were right about Tommy Phelps. He didn't die in the lake. He was murdered about an hour or so before he was thrown into the lake. He was beaten to death with a crowbar or something like that. He died from extensive bleeding to the brain. One of his hands was completely shattered. He was trying to defend himself Bill."

What could Bill say? Saying how sorry he was wasn't going to bring Tommy back. He had to remember to get that cross though.

"What about the others?" Bill asked after a long pause.

"Benjamin Bates was shot twice. The first bullet landed in his left lung. The second bullet is what killed him. It went into his brain and he died instantly. Joseph Bates was shot twice in the head. Both bullets went into the brain, and he was dead by the first shot. Daniel Bates was shot in the throat. He was dead in a minute or two. What concerned me though was the marks on the boys backs. They were long marks, and while most of them were on their backs, there were a lot of them on their legs and chests. They had been beaten."

"Do you know how long the beatings took place?"

"Years. Some of the newer scars formed over the old ones. These kids went through hell."

"Was there any sexual abuse?"

"Not that I could see, but I'll look again."

Bill turned on the heater in his car, and started down the road that would take him to the Bates house. He never had any idea that the boys had been beaten. The Bates were always a tight knit family, and they liked to keep to themselves, but that wasn't unusual. Most of the families who lived in Bill's town were quiet. That didn't mean the parents were beating the children. He felt a headache coming on. Not only had there been brutal murders that took place while he was the sheriff, there was also child abuse. God only knew what else.

"Thank you Ed," Bill said. "I'll call you if I need anything else. I'm goin go ahead and tell the agents what you found. Might help their investigation or somethin. I can't wait till all of this is over. What about you?"

"It will never be over Bill. These assholes killed my wife."

"I know," Bill said quietly. "Go home and eat something. I'll call you later."

He hung up his cell before the coroner could say anything else. He didn't want to talk about murders anymore. When he became the sheriff, he didn't think much would be going on. He expected to give out traffic tickets and maybe even handle some drinking in public, but never murder. Murder was never in the plan.

When he pulled up to the crime scene, it looked a lot like it did last night. Yellow tape blocked it off to the public, and officers were everywhere. He didn't see the agents yet, but he assumed they were visiting their friends at the hospital. He parked his car and looked around. It was worse than it was last night now that he could see everything clearly without the help of a flashlight. He could see blood on the front door, and he could see every last board of an old bar that was a few feet away from the house. He could barely see it before.

"What's happening?" he asked the first officer that walked his way.

"Um, good morning Sheriff Bill."

"It's a terrible morning now what's happening?"

"Um, we think the majority of the murders took place in the barn."

"The barn? I thought it would be that freezer room or the nursery."

"We don't think anyone was killed in the nursery. We have a specialist looking over it now, but I don't think so. And while there was a considerable amount of blood in the freezer, it all looks fresh. We are running DNA on it now, but we're sure it will come back belonging to the agents and probably that teacher lady. That barn is a real mess though. I've only been in there twice, and my God…It's terrible."

"Did you find more bodies?"

"No bodies," he said quickly. "But even blood to make Jeffrey Dahmer roll around in his grave for sure. We found this old pitchfork that we are sure was used in some of the murders."

"Any diaries?" Bill asked.

"Nope, no diaries but we haven't completely searched all the rooms. Most diaries are usually kept hidden somewhere. Were you expecting one?"

"Not really, just hoping the killers would have some kind of reason for doing what they did. I guess we can't be that lucky. Take me to the barn."

Bill followed the deputy into the barn where a good bunch of his officers were. He didn't even remembering most of these men working on the scene, but he had a good hunch that none of them had seen this much blood before. Hell, he hadn't seen this much blood before.

The barn was beautiful at one point during its history. It stood tall, and although most of the painting had worn off, it was still a sturdy building. Inside, the floors were lined with some old hay, and it even looked like there was a loft upstairs. There was a ladder placed against the top room, but Bill didn't trust it enough to climb up. It didn't look like it had been used in years. Sooner or later he would get it checked out, but not now. There were two stalls near the back, but Bill couldn't remember the Bates ever owning horses. Like the room upstairs, they were most likely just used for storage.

The deputy wasn't lying about the amount of blood. It was all over the place: the walls, the floors, and Bill could even spot some on the windows. This place was a death trap. There was no question that this is where the murders took place. All of them. Hell, the teacher was probably killed in this barn. All of the blood was dry though, but it could pass an eerie shade of paint for the floors. His stomach rolled over, but he hadn't had any breakfast that morning. If he had, it would be joining the dried blood on the floor. He took a deep breath, and waited for the nauseous feeling to pass. This wasn't the time or place to be getting sick.

"I want you to get men up on the loft as soon as you find a better ladder," Bill said as soon as he felt like himself again. "Don't think there is nothin up there, but you need to check. You find anything in them old stalls?"

"Nothing yet. Just chairs and stuff," the deputy said.

"Okay. If you do find somethin up there or in the stalls, call me before you even touch it. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

Bill turned around to check out the house again. He wasn't going to let his town fall apart because one family decided to go crazy on him. He was going to keep order and control. He was going to handle this like a professional, and if any of the agents needed his help in any way, he would be there. This was still his town, and he was still the sheriff.

* * *

><p>Prentiss watched the others find their way down to Hotch's room. Rossi told them that Hotch kept fading in and out of his sleepy state, and that he surrendered to sleep just about 10 minutes ago. They would just be able to see Hotch fast asleep in his bed when they got there, but she guessed one of them would be able to relieve Rossi of his noble duty. Prentiss wanted to see if she would be able to see Reid. Out of all of the team that was there when they were rescued, she was the only one who hadn't seen Reid. She left with Hotch in the ambulance, and she wasn't allowed to see Reid when he was out of surgery. She didn't know if he would even be awake, but it would be worth it just to see his face.<p>

The hospital was still empty for the most part. She barely saw any nurses walking around, but it was still early, and the town they were in wasn't that big. She remembered someone telling her last night that Reid's room was just down the hallway from where Hotch was so when the others walked around the corner, she turned around. None of the doors to the rooms were opened, and she didn't see any names beside the doors. Two nurses were sitting at the station, and she knew that she had better ask them where Reid was rather than go door to door this early in the morning.

"Good morning," Prentiss said with a forced smile.

"You're with the agents?" the older of the nurses asked.

"Yes, I'm Agent Prentiss."

"Looking for Spencer Reid? He's in room 208. Right over there," she said pointing behind Prentiss.

"Thanks so much. Can I see him? Did he wake up?"

"Here, I'll take you," the younger nurse said.

She put down some paperwork, and walked around the station. She was about the same age as Prentiss, but shorter with blonde hair and freckles. From the size of her growing belly, Prentiss guessed she was pregnant and that the nurse was due soon. She wore her blonde hair back in a ponytail, and wasn't wearing make-up other than eye liner and mascara.

"Name is Emma," she said with a perky smile. "Emma Winslet. Just call me Emma though. The baby in my belly is goin be Amber Rose after her grandma. I was helpin the doctor out with your friend last night."

The pregnant nurse had a bounce to her step that Prentiss wasn't expecting. It was almost a struggle to keep up with her even though Reid's room was just about a minute away. Emma cracked the door open to look in.

"Poor guy had nightmares all night long, and I don't mean just like some old bad dream. I mean, this guy was thrashing around and had to be held down a few times. Just awful stuff. Just sleepin now though. His temperature went down, and the doctor isn't expecting any lasting complications from his hypothermia."

"Can I go in?" Prentiss asked. She couldn't see him from where she was standing.

"Of course," Emma said stepping back. "I'll just wait out here for ya. If you need me, don't hesitate to call."

Prentiss nodded at her, and slowly stepped into the room. Reid's room was about the same size as Hotch's was, and the decorations were similar. The blinds were shut to keep the room darker, and the television was off. She heard the beeping coming from machines, and that's when she saw her young team member on the bed. He had several sheets covering his thin frame, but she could see his cut and bruised wrists from where she was standing. She took a seat by his bed, and put her hand on top of his. His long fingers felt cold, but she assumed it was probably just the room temperature. The doctors were doing what they could to keep the boy genius warm.

"I'm so sorry Reid," she whispered. Looking down at his tired face made everything so much more real for her. That family really did almost kill Reid. They tried to, and if the team hadn't gotten there in time, they would have killed him.

"I am so sorry," she whispered again.

She squeezed his hand, and tried blinking away the tears that were forming in her eyes. Reid was going to be alright. This terrible nightmare would be over soon. It would be nothing more than a memory in just a few months. Just a memory.

She saw Emma's shadow in the doorway, and she knew that the team would be wondering where she went to if she didn't get back. She stood up to leave when she heard the slightest rustle coming from the bed. She turned around, and saw Reid's fingers move slightly. She sat back down as quickly as she could, and put her hand back on Reid's hand.

"Reid?'

His jaw dropped open, and she heard him swallow. He moved his fingers again, and she saw his tongue flash out of his mouth to lick his dry lips. She thought about squeezing his hand, but she wasn't sure how he would take physical contact this soon so she decided it wasn't a good idea.

"Reid? It's Prentiss. Are you awake?"

"Yeah, I'm…" Reid answered in an almost raspy voice. "Awake."

His big eyes opened slowly, but he jumped when he saw her sitting there. His calm breathing became unsteady, and he was soon sitting up in his bed looking around. He had no idea where he was. His face was telling Prentiss everything that his mouth wasn't. He was terrified.

"Reid, it's okay. You're okay," Prentiss said trying to pull him back down. "You're in a hospital."

"Hospital?" he asked looking around.

"Yeah. We found you last night. Did you really think we were just going to leave you there?" Prentiss asked with a weak smile.

"Where's Hotch?"

"He's just down the hallway. He's sleeping. It's really early, and I," Prentiss tried explain.

"Daniel is really sick. He needs to see a doctor," Reid said finally looking back at Prentiss. "He needs to be in the hospital."

"Daniel?"

"Yes, the younger of the brothers. I don't think he's been looked at by a professional, but he has all of the symptoms of having brain cancer. He's been getting terrible headaches for a while now, and it's been getting worse. I don't know if surgery is an option at this point, but I am sure there is something that can be done."

"I'll tell the doctors," Prentiss said slowly. She knew it wasn't a good idea to tell Reid right after he woke up the details of what happened during his rescue. Reid was going to find out Daniel was dead sooner or later, but it wouldn't be now.

"Tell them now," Reid said frantically. "Please. He's just a kid, and his parents don't listen to him or he would have gotten help a long time ago."

"Okay, I'll text Morgan," Prentiss said getting her phone out. She noticed that Reid calmed down once she started texting. She wasn't even sure what to tell him, but she did tell him to call the coroner and look into the possibility of Daniel Bates having brain cancer. "Done."

Reid settled down back into his bed, but she could see worry written across his features. He had been through so much in the past week, and it would take more than a text message to help him get over it. How many people wished that they could turn back the hands of time? She would never be able to know that, but this was one of those times. She wished more than anything that she could take back the cruelty and evil that was bestowed upon Hotch and Reid.

"How are you feeling?" Prentiss asked after a silence that seemed to go on for hours.

"What happened to that family?"

"We can talk about that later. How are you feeling? Are you tired? Do you hurt anywhere?"

"I never thought that you guys were going to find us," Reid said slowly.

Prentiss felt her heart drop in her chest. How could Reid think that? She could speak for the entire team that not one of them would ever stop looking for Hotch and Reid.

"We never stopped looking," Prentiss said.

"Did you find Kate's body?"

"Reid, we can talk about all of that later. You should be thinking about all of the stuffed animals that Garcia bought from the gift shop downstairs. I don't know if there is even room for all of them in here."

Reid smiled weakly, and took a deep breath. Prentiss turned around when she heard a noise, and saw that the nurse was finally walking away. She probably heard them talking, but Prentiss was praying Emma wasn't going to call the doctor. Reid didn't need to see a stranger right now. He needed to be with the people he loved more than anything. They would be a better medicine than anything the hospital had to offer.

_im proud of finally finishing this chapter so there lol. i think ill be working on my other story next just cuz i havent updated it n 4ever and i have a terrible reputiation of updating slowly. blah. and im kinda sleepy now so it def wont be 2nite. but lemme know what u guys think about the chapter. do u guys like rickie? and that nurse at the end, emma, she freakin came outta nowhere so dont ask about her cuz i dont know yet haha. till next time! xoxoo_


	27. Chapter 27

_im pretty sure that my excuses dont matter for not writing in like 4ever haha. but ive been getting really good at making utube videos so ive been playin with those, and i totally forgot about my story so u may kill me if u like haha. i made this chapter longer than usual so i hope this makes up 4 it. anyways, i made a reid video so if u guys wanna see it, its called tribute to reid criminal minds by gonewiththewindlover so ya. enjoy this chapter!_

J.J. noticed that Prentiss slipped away from their group right after they got there, but no one else brought it up. Hotch wasn't awake by the time they got there, and so if Prentiss needed to get something else done, now was the perfect time to do it. Morgan and Garcia led the way to Hotch's room, but J.J. wasn't in any real hurry to get there. She had a long night, but she wasn't going to complain. All of them had long nights. Garcia didn't even look like herself. She was wearing the bright clothes she was known for, but her face couldn't hide how tired she looked. Garcia never talked about it, but J.J. was sure that Garcia never got over finding that teacher's body. Garcia always flipped out or turned away when they were looking at victims from other cases. She couldn't imagine what the poor thing had to go through finding an actual body, and not just a body, but one in that bad of shape.

When Morgan held up a finger to keep them from entering Hotch's room, J.J. approached Garcia. She had a bag in one of her arms, and was holding a big teddy bear in the other. While it wasn't easy to notice, J.J. saw that Garcia wasn't wearing any fun accessories that morning. It was another sign of what the computer goddess was going through in her own mind.

"How are you doing?" J.J. asked softly.

"Scared. Sleepy. Anxious. Restless. Did I say sleepy?"

"I think so," J.J. said smiling.

"None of this needed to happen. I mean, I know that we get stuff like this all the time, but this one just seems worse. Like, why did they have to take Reid and Hotch? Can you imagine how scared they were? It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it, and knowing what they had to go through…They almost died and then we find out two kids were part of it. Teenagers can be little monsters when they want to be, but this goes way above and beyond that."

"We've dealt with cases before involving teenagers," J.J. said thinking back.

"Not like this. Nothing like this. I mean, even their house was beyond creepy. It looked like something from Halloween, but Halloween is over and Hotch and Reid are in the hospital and I'm scared for them."

"The doctors are helping them."

"The doctors won't be able to help them forget what they saw though. That will be with them forever. I mean, I still see that teacher lying in the snow, and that was probably nothing to what they had to see or go through."

"That's what their friends are for," J.J. said smiling. "We will always be there for them."

Garcia smiled at her, but pain was still in her eyes. J.J. would have given anything for Garcia to have not seen that body. Anything. Garcia was the one person on their team who could cheer all of them up. For the most part, she had been sheltered from what actually went on outside of her office, and that is probably how she was able to keep her quirky charm. Bringing her out here was a mistake, but J.J. wasn't even sure if they would be able to keep her away. She was part of their team, their family, and she had every right to be there.

"Hey guys," Morgan said from the doorway. "He's waking up."

"Should we wait out here?" J.J. said. She didn't want to startle him. She heard that he was having some problems with the doctor, and she didn't want to startle him.

"He's been asking for you," Rossi said from inside the room.

"The doctor has been telling Rossi to keep it down," Morgan said. "No loud noises or something. Just remember what he's been through."

J.J. nodded. She hated being treated like a kid, but she knew that Morgan was just looking out for them. Hotch was very delicate right now, and none of them knew exactly what to expect from him. J.J. smiled at Garcia, and followed Morgan into the room. Rossi was standing underneath the TV. The weary look in his eyes told J.J. that he didn't sleep much last night either. J.J. circled around to the other side of the bed so Garcia could get the first chair.

Hotch didn't look like himself at all. He looked like a vampire with his black hair over his face and pale skin surrounding his dark eyes. It was heart breaking. Both of his legs looked bandaged up, and one of them was lifted above the bed. His arms had several cuts and bruises, and his finger nails were broken. She saw a red line circling around each of his wrists. She hoped that this sick reminder of what he was forced to endure wouldn't scar.

"Feeling any better?" Garcia asked.

"I've seen better days," Hotch said. "Looks like all of you have too."

"I keep telling you that we didn't throw any parties while you were gone," Rossi said.

"I'm ready to get out of here," Hotch said.

He glanced nervously at Rossi, but Rossi didn't make any movements to acknowledge it. He told Rossi something. She was sure of it, but she wasn't going to ask what it was. She would find out in time, but whatever it was, it was bad. She had never seen Hotch looked so concerned in his entire life. Hotch looked back at Morgan before the others could notice.

"You haven't even been here 24 hours," Morgan said. "You aren't going anywhere."

"What's going to happen with Laura Bates? I want to be there when you talk to her," Hotch said firmly.

"No, no, no, no, no," Garcia said. "You are staying right here in this warm bed."

"She is still in the jail," Morgan said. "The sheriff tried talking to her last night, but she wasn't cooperating. She's secluded, and I don't think she knows about what happened to her family yet."

"She's not going to like that," Hotch said. "At all."

"We figured as much," Rossi said.

"I feel fine," Hotch said. "I want to get out of this bed. I need to see Reid."

"I don't think he's even awake yet," J.J. said.

"And you are staying in bed," Garcia said putting her hands on top of his. "You won't be able to do anything if you don't get yourself better."

"Where's Prentiss?" Hotch suddenly asked looking around.

Morgan's phone buzzed loudly in his pocket, and he excused himself without answering the question. It was probably Prentiss texting him from somewhere in the hospital. Knowing her, she probably snuck away to see Reid. J.J. hadn't seen either one of their doctors since she got there, but that didn't mean that Reid wasn't awake yet.

* * *

><p>The longer Sheriff Bill stayed in that barn, the more convinced he was that every single one of the victims had been murdered there. Nothing of any real importance was found in the upper loft, and his officers could only find old magazines in the unused stalls. Most of his men had moved from the barn back into the house just because there was more to find in there. Bill didn't even like to be in the barn for a minute. It felt like a tomb in there. Hell, it was a tomb. So many innocent lives were lost in this place. He could almost hear their screams.<p>

He went back outside to his car. He wasn't going anywhere just yet. He just needed to be away from that hellhole. Maybe there was a way to destroy that barn. It didn't need to be there anymore. Laura was never coming back to this place, and he was sure that he would be able to find some reason to get rid of that building. The people who lived in the town wouldn't mind at all. Most of the victims had been strangers just passing through, but a lot of them had lived there. They had lived there, and they had died there because the sheriff wasn't good enough to catch the creeps doing it before it was too late.

His phone screaming at him from inside his pocket got his mind off of the demolition of that barn for the time being. He still had so much to do before he could even consider it. He needed to get back to the station to check on Laura, and he really wanted to visit the wounded agents in the hospital. It was his fault that they were there in the first place.

"Sheriff," Bill said answering the phone. He didn't need to go into any formalities. The person on the other end knew who they were calling.

"Morning Sheriff Bill," Ed said from the other line. "Just wonderin what you want me to do with Parker's body."

"Whatcha mean?" Bill asked.

"Well, have you called her family yet?"

Ed paused. He didn't call her family, and he still needed to call up Tommy's folks. This morning wasn't going well at all. He wasn't used to making phone calls like that. He missed the days when the spectacular event of the month was the town drunk dressed as a woman at the town's square. He missed that.

"Damn, no I didn't Ed, but I will. Don't you worry yourself none. I'll call them up today," Bill said.

"Her family isn't from around here, right?"

"I haven't got the faintest idea where they all live, but I'll find out. You're lucky you're not down here Ed. It's a mess. This can stay just between you and me, but I'm glad all them bastards are dead. Just wish I was there when they all got shot."

"Interesting you bring that up because I got a call from Agent Morgan this morning. He wants me to look into the possibility of the youngest Bates boy having brain cancer. He wouldn't tell me where he got that information from, but I think it's something to look into."

"Brain cancer?" Bill asked. Why the hell would that even matter? He was dead now.

"Yes. I wanted to get your permission before I start looking around in there. If he does have some kind of tumor pressing against his brain, I could find it quickly."

"Are you tryin to tell me that he helped kill all those people just because he was sick?"

"This won't be an excuse for his behavior sheriff, but do I have your permission to do this?"

"Yeah, sure, go ahead. Whatever floats your boat. Cuttin open dead bodies was never my kind of thing," Bill said with a snicker. "Let me know immediately if you find anything."

"Will do," Ed said pleasantly.

Bill put his phone back in his pocket. He wasn't planning on calling the families anytime soon. He didn't even know what the hell he was going to say to them. Hey, your boy wandered off and got slaughtered like a pig? Hey, your brilliant teacher daughter was raped and murdered by a psychopath? He knew he should have called her family earlier, but he just couldn't find an easy way to explain what happened so he kept putting it off.

"Hey Bill, I mean Sheriff, Sheriff Bill, you gotta come look at what we found!" one of the younger deputies spat out as soon as Bill got close to the damned house.

"You find the holy grail or just more bodies?"

"We found this Poloroid camera in one of the boys' rooms," he said proudly holding up the camera.

Bill took a pair of rubber gloves out of his pocket, and took the camera. It didn't look like anything important at first. It just looked like a worn out camera that had certainly seen better days, but then he saw a name markered onto the back of it. The black ink read Kate Parker.

"Which boy had this?"

"It was in Daniel's room sir."

"And where are the pictures?" Bill asked quickly. The camera was evidence, but the pictures is what would be useful in the end. How the hell did his teacher's camera get in his bedroom? What was the freak taking pictures of?

"We've been looking, but we haven't been able to find any yet."

"Well, then tear that room apart. You find me those pictures!"

The deputy ran off without another word. He couldn't understand why Parker would give her future killer her camera. It wasn't like she was teaching photography or something. After his men found those pictures, he was going to want Parker's bedroom searched as well. With the way things were going in his town, he was probably going to find evidence that Parker was having an affair with Daniel or something of the like. He never liked people much that weren't born and raised there. It was hard to trust them for some reason, but there was absolutely no excuse to give a student her personal camera. The FBI leaving his town soon would be for the best. As soon as their friends recovered, he wanted them gone.

* * *

><p>Reid wanted to ask Prentiss what really happened. His memories were all jumbled up, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't put them back in order. His genius mind told him that this was perfectly normal, and that the memories would most likely return on their own in time, but he wanted to know what happened. He was positive that there was some sort of fight, and that people probably got hurt, but he knew that Prentiss wasn't going to tell him. She was there, and she knew exactly what happened, but she wasn't going to tell him.<p>

"Are the doctors going to look at Daniel?" Reid asked.

"I'm sure they will," Prentiss said. "I told Morgan, and knowing him, he probably told every doctor there is by now. How did you know he was so sick?"

"He had trouble concentrating, eating, constant headaches…He could barely walk the last time I saw him," Reid said. "What are they going to do with the family? Is Daniel in this hospital?"

"I don't know where Daniel is," Prentiss said quickly. "I rode in the ambulance with Hotch so I didn't stay on the scene too long. The sheriff is probably there gathering more evidence. I'm just so sorry it took so long to find you. I really am."

"You did find us though. That's all that matters," Reid said softly.

"Knock, knock," a doctor's voice announced from the doorway.

Reid tensed up. He didn't recognize the voice. His heart sped up in his chest, and while his mind tried explaining his fears away, it wasn't working. The voice sounded a lot like Benjamin. Prentiss said the whole family was arrested, but what if she was wrong? What if Benjamin was hiding or something when they were found? What if he snuck into the hospital?

"Can I come in?" the voice asked.

Reid tried taking control of his wild emotions. He took deeper breaths, and tried assuring himself that he was perfectly safe in a hospital, but his heart just kept pounding. Prentiss noticed how he was acting, and after she squeezed his hand, she hurried over to the door. Reid didn't know what she told the stranger, but whatever she said made him leave.

"It's okay Reid. He's gone," Prentiss said after a moment.

Maybe Prentiss wasn't telling him what happened because one of them did get away. Benjamin was hiding in the forest somewhere, just waiting for the team to live them alone. Hotch needed to get out of there. He couldn't handle anymore abuse from that man.

"Reid? Calm down, he's gone."

All of them needed to get out of there. Now. Prentiss didn't know how dangerous those people were. She wasn't there. Reid tried swinging his legs over the bed, but he was weaker than he thought he was. His legs weren't cooperating, and he fell over the side. Prentiss ran over to help him up, but he couldn't hear what she was saying. All the sounds from the hospital became distant, and the only thing he concentrated on was his own breathing. He wasn't going to let anyone else get hurt. He tried getting on his feet, but he slipped and fell on his knees.

Burning pain shot up his legs, but he wasn't going to let that slow him down. He felt Prentiss near him, but that's when he saw two women run in the room he didn't recognize. Who were these people? Did they know Benjamin? Reid was sure Benjamin had friends, and Prentiss was in the car with them with Reid was first abducted with Hotch. Benjamin was just coming back to tie up all loose ends. The logical side of Reid's brain was working overtime, trying to make sense of all this, but Reid didn't have time to think. Reid got himself in front of Prentiss, and tried pushing her out of the way just as the strangers approached. When they reached out to grab him, Reid held his breath. Prentiss said something else to him, but he never heard her. He lost his breath, and he fell back on the floor. A black world clouded his vision, and he was gone.

* * *

><p>Rickie couldn't understand why the officers kept leaving him alone with Laura. They didn't even seem to care that he was standing so close to her. He didn't know exactly what she had done to land herself behind bars, but he knew it wasn't anything good. From the looks of her alone, he guessed she was guilty with whatever she was being accused of. Her stringy hair smelled terrible, and it hadn't seen a hairbrush in a long time. Her dress was stained, and her skin was dirty with something that looked like soot or mud. The pink sweater she was wearing looked way too small for her and the shoes over her feet looked too big. She was a walking train wreck.<p>

"So do you go to school with my boys?"

Rickie shook his head. Why in the world did she think he knew her kids? Was she some kind of celebrity or something? That could be true. Rickie wasn't home a lot, and he rarely watched television. She could be on the FBI's Most Wanted List, and he would have no idea.

"They are about your age. You know that? Course you don't," Laura told him. Her teeth were rotting out of her mouth. It was hard enough to stare out her mouth with the layers of old lipstick on top of it, but the teeth just made his stomach roll.

"Don't you have school today?"

Rickie shook his head, and scribbled something down in his notebook. It was the weekend, but it didn't matter anyway. He went to school when he was little, but he hadn't been to school in years. None of his foster parents cared to register him so it never happened.

"Oh, good Lord, I'm going to miss mass. What church you go to?"

Rickie shook his head. He was sure that he went to mass at least once in his lifetime, but he couldn't really remember. None of the families he stayed with were religious at all.

"You don't go to church?" Laura asked.

Rickie shook his head again. He didn't think it was that hard to believe. Lots of people didn't go to church. It was funny though because every single one of his families celebrated Christmas and Easter so he figured they were Christian, but they never mentioned it.

"Oh, you poor poor boy!" Laura exclaimed. "I'm so sorry!"

Rickie shrugged. He didn't feel sorry for himself so why should she? It wasn't a big deal. He glanced over his shoulder to see what the actual officers were doing, but they weren't paying attention to him at all. He thought they should be watching over Laura more closely than they were just because she was a criminal, but they didn't seem to care.

"If you lived with me and my family when you was growin up, we would have gotten ya a proper religious education. You know that?"

Rickie smiled at her. What was he supposed to do? This lady smelled like a dead animal, and he wanted to get out of there.

"I want you to do something for me. You think you can do that? It's really important."

Rickie nodded at her. Whatever it was, he wasn't going to do it. He was going to go home, find something to eat, and maybe wander around the woods for a bit. He liked the forest. The cold didn't bother him, and watching the animals calmed him down.

"You know where my family lives? It's a little way off from here, not in town. You got a car?"

Rickie shook his head. He didn't have a license, and he never got a permit. He did have a bike that helped him get around, but it would never be the same thing as a car. He didn't know if he could even drive on his own with his disability. He asked one of his foster parents once, but he never got a proper answer. Even if there was some way to help him, he would never be able to afford a car so it didn't matter. The bike was fine.

"Walkin is good for ya," Laura said winking. "It's the Bates house though. Ask around. I do think we're pretty popular around here. Anyways, I'm pretty sure my husband hid a gun somewhere in the barn with some old clothes. The agents had guns on them, and he didn't want them all out at once so one went in the barn. He didn't tell me where, but it can't be that hard to find. If you can get me that gun Rickie, I'll get you a car."

There would be no way in hell that this woman could get a car. He was deaf, but he wasn't stupid. If this woman did get her hands on a car, he wouldn't want it. If she couldn't buy herself some shampoo, she had no right offering him a car. He was going to flat out refuse, but it could be evidence that could help put her away forever. He was sure the police would appreciate his help, but what was she doing with an agent's gun? He nodded his head quickly at her, and smiled. He needed to find Sheriff Bill.

"Yay!" she told him. "You shut your fat faces up!"

Rickie turned around, and saw one of the officers raising a fist at her. If he just bothered to hear what she was saying, Rickie wouldn't have all of this one his shoulders.

"Sorry bout that. Pigs. Hate them all. Get to the barn as fast as you can. When you get the gun, hide it in one of the shirts you find. Benjamin is always bragging about how good he is at hidin stuff, but I'm sure you can find it fast. I think the virgin boy's vest is in the pile somewhere. Bring the gun in that."

Virgin boy? Rickie wanted to know, but didn't ask. Whatever she was guilty of, he had a bad feeling it wasn't robbery or drunk driving. Was she a murderer? If she was, why weren't the police watching her? What happened to her family? She obviously had kids, and a husband was somewhere, but where?

"Don't tell anyone…" Laura said. She slapped her hand on her cheek, and bent over laughing. "Forgot. You can't tell no one anyways!"

Rickie smiled. Bitch. He was used to this, but that didn't mean he liked it.

"Hurry back now. And you better leave soon. Gets freezin cold here at nighttime."

He nodded at her, and turned around just so she couldn't say anything else to him. He couldn't tell the cops there what she said. They probably wouldn't do anything anyway. He waved goodbye to the officers, and stepped outside. The snow storm from the night before was gone, but it was colder than hell. He pulled out his bike just as the sheriff's car pulled up. He was scribbling on his pad while the sheriff got out.

Rickie ran over to Bill, and held the notepad up high so the sheriff could read.

"Hold on boy, hold on. Just gettin out. What is it?"

_Just talked 2 Laura. Said there is an agent's gun hidden in barn. U should look._

"Agent's gun?" Bill laughed. "Son, we just searched that barn and there ain't no gun. Getting the barn destroyed tomorrow mornin though. I don't see any need to keep that thing up. The thing is falling apart, and too many people were murdered there. I can't wait to get rid of it."

Rickie shook his head, and held up his index finger while he wrote down more. It couldn't be destroyed until that gun was found, and what if there was more evidence or something? He was slightly angry that his foster family and the police officers never once mentioned to him that they were looking for murderers, but he could deal with that later.

_You need to find the gun. What if there r more stuff like that? _

"Don't talk to her anymore. Got it?" Bill said leaning in closer. "She's nothin but bad news, and my wife thinks you shouldn't even be workin here until we get that murdering witch moved to a more secure location."

_I think u should look._

"Go on home, and don't go snooping around in business that doesn't concern you."

Bill slammed his car door shut, and went into the station leaving Rickie out with his bike. Rickie could just go home, and read a book or something, but he was pretty sure he had read all of the books in the house, and his foster dad was an ass most of the time. He would just bike to a gas station, find out where the Bates house was, and go there himself. It couldn't be that far away, and he could probably get there before the sun set behind the trees. Maybe the cops would start respecting him more if he could find something they didn't. It was hard to be taken seriously in this town if you couldn't hear or talk. There would be no way in hell that he would ever stay in this town past his 18th birthday, but he wanted to be respected until then. He got on his bike, and started on his way.

* * *

><p>Morgan had a feeling that Prentiss snuck off to see Reid, but he didn't think Reid was even awake until he got that strange text message. Have the coroner check to see if Daniel Bates had a tumor on his brain? Where did that come from? Reid had to have been awake, and he was talking to her. Morgan excused himself from Hotch's room without telling the others what was going on, and he made his way through the hallways to where Reid's room was. He thought he was going to have to ask the nurses, but he heard a loud commotion coming from just around the corner. He followed the frantic nurses, and found Prentiss standing outside one of the doorways. She had her arms wrapped around her chest, and her messy hair was falling around her face.<p>

"What happened? Is he awake?" Morgan asked. He tried looking in, but the nurses were blocking his view.

"He was," Prentiss said softly.

"You talked to him? Was he awake when you got here?"

"No, I just came to see him because I wasn't there outside when J.J. and Rossi found him in the snow. I haven't seen him in a long time, and I wanted to check up on him. He was sleeping when I first got here, but he woke up."

"What did he say? Did you mention what happened?"

"No," Prentiss said sharply. She looked hurt that he would even suggest it, but something bad happened in that room. "No, he was really concerned about Daniel. He wouldn't stop talking about him until I texted you about it."

"I wonder why Reid would care that he was sick. That kid was part of the family that tried to murder him," Morgan said flatly.

"I don't know. He was just talking, and I guess a doctor heard him or something, and so the doctor tried to come in. Reid just froze when the doctor knocked. I told the doctor it wasn't a good time, but Reid was having a panic attack. Even after the doctor was gone, Reid couldn't catch his breath and he fell off the bed. I don't think he even heard me. When the nurses came in to help, he just passed out."

"So he has pts too," Morgan said.

"I'm pretty sure he thought the doctors and nurses were part of the family or something. When I went around the bed to help him up, he put himself in front of me like he was trying to protect me."

"We have to get them home," Morgan said after a moment of silence. "I think that having them in familiar surroundings with people they know will be better than having total strangers take care of them."

"You're probably right," Rossi said coming up behind Morgan. "I just don't think they are well enough to travel just yet."

"Yeah, well the sheriff doesn't need them here to convict that woman. They have more than enough evidence to lock that woman up forever," Morgan said. He wanted her to burn for what she did to his friends. Even if she never laid a single finger on either one of them, she was there and she knew and she did nothing. For that, she deserved death.

"Life in prison is too good for her," Prentiss said harshly.

Morgan moved over to the door that was cracked open, and he could just see his young friend on the bed. The nurses were looking over his vitals, and one of them was getting the sheets back over his legs. Reid's eyes were closed, but he didn't look relaxed.

"He's exhausted," Prentiss added. "He didn't say it, but he didn't need to."

"I would be too if I went through what he had to," Morgan said.

He still couldn't believe that someone would rape Reid. Who the hell would do a thing like that? Reid was a kid, the baby of their team, and some asshole violated him. It wasn't only that, but they did that to Reid more than once, and they got away with it. Benjamin deserved something worse than just a two bullets. He deserved to get fed alive to crocodiles, and even that was too good for someone like him. Morgan would pity the crocodiles for having to eat rotten meat like the Bates family.

"There is something else you should know," Rossi said tentatively.

"What?" Morgan asked turning around.

"I was debating even telling the rest of you, but I think all of us need to know."

"What is it?" Prentiss asked.

"I don't know the whole story," Rossi said slowly. "He told me so fast, and I didn't really have the heart to ask for more information, but Hotch…he raped Reid."

"He what?" Morgan asked. That didn't make sense. The family were the ones guilty of doing that. Hotch was another victim. He couldn't have touched Reid.

"I don't know," Rossi said. "Hotch was having a panic attack, and he just blurted that out. I don't know if even meant to tell me, but he did."

"That's why he's been asking to see Reid ever since he first woke up," Prentiss said slowly.

"But he couldn't have," Morgan argued. "They were both chained up. They have marks on their wrists."

"It's not unheard of for sexual sadists to have their victims do something like that," Rossi said.

"It's not that," Morgan said. "I just can't see Hotch even considering to touch Reid. Even if they held a gun to his head, he wouldn't have hurt Reid like that."

"Are we going to talk to Laura? If Hotch did what he said he said, Laura would know about it," Rossi said calmly.

Morgan did want to talk to Laura. He wanted to talk to the woman who could murder so many people, and not give a damn. He wanted to meet the monster who tried to kill his friends.

"Yeah, but not today. I wanted to drive down to Tommy's house to tell his parents what happened to him. I have a feeling the sheriff hasn't gotten around to it yet," Morgan said. He still blamed himself for what happened to that kid.

"I'll go with you," Rossi volunteered. "I don't like being in hospitals for long periods of time, and I'd like to look around the Bates house afterwards."

"Why?" Morgan asked. The sheriff and his officers probably went through that place from head to toe.

"Just getting a feeling, that's all."

Morgan knew Rossi well enough to trust the older man's strange hunches. Morgan just couldn't figure out what Rossi was expecting to find at the house. He admitted that he had seen better policeman almost everywhere else in the country, but it's not like they didn't have the sole survivor of the crazy family in custody. It would have been nice if that Benjamin guy survived just so he could kick his ass, but it was better he was dead along with his sons. People like that just didn't need to be alive. Hotch and Reid would probably have a better time healing knowing that those psychopaths still weren't out to get them.

"I'll stay here with Reid. When he wakes up again, he doesn't need to be alone or around the doctors that he doesn't recognize," Prentiss said looking towards his room.

"Are you going to mention what happened to Daniel or the others?" Morgan asked.

"No, I don't think it's a good idea," Prentiss answered.

"How long do you think we will be able to hide it from him?" Morgan asked. He didn't want to sound cruel, but he was sure the nurses would be talking, and it would be all over the local news. "Hotch already knows."

"But Hotch didn't have the same kind of relationship with the kid that Reid did," Rossi said.

"What kind of relationship do you think it was?" Prentiss asked. "If he was sitting on Reid when you guys found him, he's not just some innocent kid that was living there. He was probably just as guilty as his parents."

"Do you think this might be like stockholm syndrome?" Rossi asked.

"It's probably too early to say," Morgan said. "But that doesn't seem like something Reid would do."

"Well, the way he acted with Tobias Henkle," Prentiss started.

"That was different," Morgan said quickly. "That was different than this. That guy had multiple personalities. Daniel was just a 15 year old kid. Reid saw the conditions that this kid lived in, and he probably just felt sorry for him. This is different than Henkle."

Prentiss looked back at Reid's room, and Rossi didn't say anything. Morgan didn't like Prentiss comparing this to Henkle. Memories flashed through his mind of finding J.J. hiding in the barn, and learning that Reid wasn't anywhere on the property. Morgan looked over at Reid's room, and his heart dropped. What Reid had to go through this time around was much worse than anything in Henkle's barn. Henkle never raped him.

"We should go," Morgan said quietly. "I want to get there before it starts getting dark, and it gets dark around here fast."

* * *

><p>Lizzie Phelps had been flipping out since her son didn't return home last night. She didn't even know where he went off to. She could barely even remember what he said to her, but she was certain he said he would be home soon. Her husband tried not to think much of it, but she knew that he was just as worried as she was. He went to work early that morning as usual, and her two older sons went about their business like a normal weekend. She kept her cell phone glued to her hand, and tried to stop herself from calling up the sheriff, but by the time the afternoon rolled around, she knew something was wrong.<p>

"James," she called out to her oldest son on the couch. "Could you go out and look for Tommy? It's been a while, and he hasn't even texted me."

"Fine," he said. He threw a jacket on, and turned off the television.

"Keep your cell phone on high, okay? I'm really worried."

"He's probably just with friends or something mom," James said. He walked over to the kitchen, and kissed her on the cheek.

"Or he found some toy boat floating in a lake," Patrick said laughing.

"Well then, you just go with your brother to look for him then," Lizzie snapped. She wasn't in the mood for smart mouthed teenagers. "It will be colder tonight than last night. He needs to be home."

"We're going," Patrick complained.

"Can we take the car?" James asked.

"Go ahead," Lizzie said. "If Tommy outside, he is going to be freezing."

She prayed to God that he wasn't outside. She was praying that James was right, and that he did just meet up with some friends and his phone died, but then why didn't he use their phone to call her? She didn't like to worry so, but she couldn't help her. Tommy was her youngest. She couldn't imagine life without him.

"We'll probably be back in about an hour," James said.

"Could we get some hot chocolate when we're out?" Patrick asked as they were opening the front garage door.

She watched her oldest boys drive out of the neighborhood, and then she sat down on the couch. She didn't really want to call the sheriff. She knew that he was dealing with all kinds of stuff right now with the murders and the FBI in town, but what else could she do? Lizzie decided that she would wait until James and Patrick got back. If they couldn't find Tommy, she would call the police. Where could he be? This wasn't like him at all. She usually had to beg that boy to get him out of the house.

Just about half an hour later, Lizzie heard a car park outside. She figured it was her kids, but why wouldn't they park in the garage? She peaked out the curtains, and saw a black SUV with two agents. She recognized the darker one. Tommy liked him, but she never even saw the older one before. What in the world would they want? She opened the door before they were at the walkway. She didn't like the looks on their faces.

"What is it?" she called out.

"Could we please come in?" the darker agent asked.

She stepped back to allow them in, but she didn't really want to. She didn't think she wanted to hear what they had to say. She pointed them towards the couch, and followed them into the family room. Both of them took a seat, but she chose to stand.

"What's wrong?" she asked them.

"This is Agent Rossi, and I'm Agent Morgan," the darker man said. "I'm not sure if you remembered."

"Okay?" Lizzie asked. She didn't care about their names. "Why are you guys, agents, here?"

Agent Morgan glanced at the other agent, and then looked slowly back at her.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit down ma'am?"

"I'm fine standing," she said sharply.

Agent Morgan stood up, and took a few steps towards her. She suddenly didn't want to be alone. She wanted her husband to be home from work or her boys standing with her. She was about to call the old dog in from the other room, but she didn't want to seem strange.

"Last night, we found the two missing agents," Morgan started off. "We were looking around afterwards, and we saw a hole in the ice. Tommy was in there."

Lizzie's knees gave out, and she was on the floor before she knew it. Her body started trembling, and she was trying to pull her phone out of her pocket. Her husband needed to be home. She wanted James and Patrick home. She didn't know what she wanted, but the more she thought about it, the harder it became. Her phone slipped out of her hands when the first tear fell. Agent Morgan was on the floor with, and he was holding her hands tight.

"We need to…I need to get to the hospital. I need to find my coat. I need…his dad needs to know. He needs to come home."

"Mrs. Phelps," Morgan said gently. "He's not at the hospital."

"Where is he?" she shouted.

"He's dead," Agent Rossi said standing up. "We got him out of the ice as fast as we could but…"

Lizzie screamed. None of this could be true. It couldn't. She felt herself hitting her arms against Morgan's chest, and she was positive that the agents were trying to talk to her, but she couldn't hear them. All she could see was Tommy walking away from her from the last time. She was never going to see her youngest son again. What did he do to deserve that? He couldn't have fallen in the ice. He's lived here his whole life. What happened to him?

She faintly heard the garage door opening, and she did saw a flash of her older sons running towards her, but all she wanted was Tommy. She wanted to see her son again. She continued throwing her flimsy arms into Morgan's chest, and then she lost her breath. Her arms fell down, and she collapsed entirely into the floor. As she fell, she prayed that she would wake up and learn this was all a dream. That's all she wanted.

* * *

><p>It took a lot longer than Rossi expected to leave the Phelps house. Tommy's mother fainted right on top of Morgan just as her other kids got home. Rossi called an ambulance out as soon as Morgan got her on the couch. When she woke up, she was going to need more help than her sons could give. Morgan explained to the kids that their younger brother was dead, and that they were going to have to help their mom out. Rossi tried to keep the mother comfortable, and he told the paramedics what happened to the poor woman. Her suffering was far from over, and he knew it.<p>

"She's going to be alright," Morgan said when they were finally on their way to the Bates.

"Maybe physically, but she just lost one of her children. She is never going to be the same again," Rossi said quietly.

"Well, what are you looking for out here?" Morgan said as they pulled onto the main road.

"I'm just getting a feeling that the police department didn't search it good enough. I don't know what I'm looking for, but we should find it before the sheriff decides to tear it down."

They didn't say anything else until they were pulling up on the property. It was dark outside by then, and yellow police tape were blocking off the house and barn from the public. Morgan parked the SUV under one of the old trees, and Rossi zipped up his jacket. It did look freezing cold out there, and he didn't really want to get cold playing around outside.

"We should probably look around Daniel's room. If he did leave some kind of diary or something, we could find out what was up with him and Reid," Morgan said.

"Let's look in the barn first," Rossi said. "That's where the murders were happening, and so that's probably where they left something behind that could be important. Besides, it will only get colder later on and I'd rather be looking around in a house than a barn when it's even colder out here."

Morgan nodded, and they walked silently towards the barn. The large door was silently open, but that wasn't surprising. The cops didn't seem like they would be that careful, and the wind had been blowing hard lately. They turned their flashlights on, and started looking around. There was hay littering the floorboards, and Rossi could still see the blood stains of one of the victims. There were a few magazines on the floor that had certainly seen better days, and a few stools that might have been used for milking cows about 100 years ago. Nothing seemed out of place.

"Hey Rossi, you ever hear that ghost story about the crazy axe murderer who lived in a barn?"

"No, I think I missed that one," Rossi said smiling.

"Well, it all happened one Halloween night when two kids decided to have some fun on their own," Morgan answered. "They broke into old man's…"

Something loud fell from one of the stalls in front of them. Rossi found his gun in its holster, and pulled it out in front of him. His heart was pounding in his chest. He wasn't expecting someone else to be in here, and if they were, why didn't they speak up earlier? Did this freaky family have cousins or something that were out for revenge?

"Whose there?" Morgan shouted.

They waited for a moment, and while no one said anything, Rossi did hear someone moving around in the last stall. Rossi put his finger up to his lips to single silence, and walked with Morgan to the last stall. Rossi couldn't believe that somebody would break into this barn just for fun on a night like this. Rossi wrapped his fingers tighter around the trigger as he and Morgan got in front of the last stall.

Directly in front of them was a kid about Tommy's age. He was on his knees, and searching around frantically for something in the floorboards. He had a flashlight on the ground, but he made no move to turn around when Rossi and Morgan stood a few feet behind him.

"On your feet now!" Morgan shouted.

The kid didn't acknowledge them at all. He was moving his hands around in front of them, and adjusting his flashlight every now and then to shine it in the right direction. This didn't seem right. Even if the kid wasn't related to the Bates, he shouldn't have a problem turning around. It was almost like he didn't hear them.

"Hello?" Rossi called out.

The boy still didn't turn around. Rossi kept his gun in front of him, and slowly circled around. Morgan kept his place behind them, but Rossi got closer and closer to the young man until he was right beside him. It was only then that the boy saw him. The boy stopped digging around, and lifted his hands in the air. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. Rossi stepped back so the kid would turn around, and that's when he stood up and saw Morgan.

"Who are you?" Morgan asked.

The kid kept his right hand up, but lowered his left hand as slowly as he could. He covered his mouth with his hand and shook his head quickly. As soon as he finished with that motion, he covered up one of his ears and shook his head.

"What?" Morgan asked. "What was that?"

"You're dead?" Rossi asked trying to fit the pieces together in his head.

The boy nodded his head and smiled.

"You're a deaf mute?" Rossi guessed.

The kid nodded again. What in the world was a dead mute doing at a crime scene in the middle of the night? Rossi studied the boy up and down to see if he recognized him from the high school, but Rossi was certain he never saw this boy before. Rossi never forgot a face. The boy kept his hair well-trimmed and washed, but that was the only part of him that did. He was wearing jeans that looked like they belonged to someone else, and a jacket that had more than one hole in it. Where were his parents?

"I don't know sign language," Morgan said.

The kid held a finger up, and turned to the side where Rossi saw a pad of paper in his back pocket. He pulled it out, and smiled at them.

"You can read lips?" Rossi asked.

The kid nodded again, and went to writing on his pad. When he finished, he held it up so they could see.

_I'm Rickie. R u guys cops?_

"FBI," Rossi said pulling out his badge. He was trying to speak as slowly as he could. He never tried reading lips before, but he was sure it was difficult in the dark. "What are you doing here?"

_Don't know. It's fuckin cold._

"Did someone send you here?" Morgan asked.

_Laura Bates. I work at sheriff's office. She said there was a gun hidden n the barn. Thought it cud belong 2 an agent._

"Didn't you tell the sheriff?" Rossi asked.

_He wouldn't listen_

"Did you find the gun?" Rossi asked putting his own gun away. He walked to where Rickie was digging around to look.

Rickie pointed at three guns in front of him. Rossi glanced at the guns, and already knew they belonged to Hotch and Reid, but there was something else underneath that board.

"What else is in there?" Morgan asked.

Rickie shrugged. Rossi got on his knees while Morgan stood back with Rickie. They still didn't really know who the kid was, and it was better to be watching him. Rossi was thankful that he had his gloves on. He had no idea what kind of creepy crawlies were hiding under this barn, but it wasn't long before his hands felt a large box. He pulled the shoebox out, and was slightly surprised to see that there wasn't that much dirt on it. If it had been buried down there for long, the box probably would have fallen onto itself and be covered in dirt, but it wasn't. The box looked relatively new.

Rossi looked over at Morgan who looked just as shocked as he was. Rossi pulled the lid off, and the first thing he saw was a photo of Reid naked and bleeding. Rossi dropped the box on the ground, and Morgan's jaw dropped open. Rossi saw Rickie glaring at the top photo, and so Rossi picked the collection of photos back up. Just under the top photo of Reid was another photo of his young friend, and another, and another. As Rossi flipped through them, he saw several of Hotch and tons of the teacher. It looked like all of the victims were there. There was a few at the bottom of the stack that he didn't even recognize, but most of the pictures were taken after the victim had died. Only the teacher, Hotch, and Reid had photos taken during their captivity.

"They are all here," Rossi choked out. "Every single one."

He flipped Reid's first photo over, and saw that someone had nicely printed his name on the picture. He skimmed through the rest, and saw that all of them had their names on the back. Who did this? He didn't know anything about a camera.

"We need to get back to the station," Morgan said.

"Do you think Daniel was the one who did this?" Rossi asked.

"We can talk about that later with the team," Morgan said. "We need to get back, and we're taking Rickie here with us."

"How did you get here?" Rossi asked the boy.

_Bike_

Rossi was going to have a serious talk with the sheriff about who he hired, and that if kids were wearing clothes much too big for him, someone needed to visit the kid's home. The sheriff had some serious issues with the people in this town, and while Rossi knew that he could never handle all of them, he was going to help Rickie and he was going to put Laura away for life.

_so i hope u enjoyed the chapter! ill start working on the next chapter 2nite. let me know how u guys like all the characters, and if u have any ideas, let me know n a review. thanks! xoxoxo_


	28. Chapter 28

_i decided to be REALLY ncie 2 u guys by updating so fast. i felt terrible about not writing before. i think i had written half of the chapter, and then walked around 2 play with utube and i never returned haha. until now. so i started this chapter right after i finished the last one. it pretty much wrote itself which is good. warning: major reid angst. more hotch in the next chapter. _

Morgan really wanted to go and search the house. If he could find out where that camera was, he would be able to figure out who took those disgusting photos, but he couldn't do it with a kid hanging around. He didn't trust Rickie. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he didn't like the idea of a deaf kid hanging around a barn where people were murdered. He let Rickie wear his jacket, and he chose to drive the way back. Rickie sat in the back with his notepad on his lap. He turned the heater on, and waited until Rickie buckled up before he started the engine.

"Is there even a conference room at the sheriff's station? I didn't notice one before," Morgan said. He didn't think the kid could see what he was saying from the backseat.

"I really can't remember," Rossi said. "I'm going to call Prentiss. We should tell her what we found. I'll put her on speaker."

Morgan held his cell phone up, and listened to the phone ring. Prentiss answered on one of the first rings.

"Prentiss," she said.

"Hey, it's us," Morgan said. "We found something at the barn, and we're headed back. Did you know if there was a conference room at the sheriff's station?"

"I don't think so," Prentiss said after a pause. "Why? What did you find?"

"Well, we found two rather interesting things," Rossi said. "The first one is a box full of photographs. The ones on top were of Reid."

"Reid? What kind of pictures?"

"He was bleeding," Morgan said slowly. "He looked unconscious. There's pictures of Hotch and the teacher in here too. I think all of the victims are in this collection. Hotch, Reid, and Parker are the only ones still alive in their pictures."

"And Parker died," Prentiss said. "You're bringing the pictures back? Was anything else in the box?"

"We did find the vest Reid was wearing when he was abducted by the box," Morgan said, "but we also found a kid."

"A kid?" Prentiss asked.

"A boy, teenager I think," Morgan said. "He was just digging around in the barn. He found the guns that were Hotch's and Reid's."

"Who is he?"

"His name is Rickie," Rossi said. "He said he worked in the sheriff's office, and Laura was the one that told him to go looking for the guns. We're bringing him back with us."

"Where is he now?"

"Backseat," Morgan said. "His clothes are too big for him, and we didn't really want him riding around in a bike at night."

"He's deaf," Rossi added. "We came up right behind him, and he had no idea. He can't talk at all either. We need to find out why he was even allowed to talk with Laura at all, and who his family is. He shouldn't be wandering around the woods this late at night."

"How could he talk to Laura if he can't talk? I didn't know you guys knew sign language," Prentiss said.

"He carries this notepad thing around with him," Morgan said.

"And he can read lips," Rossi said.

"There's probably a room in the hospital we could use to talk to him," Prentiss said after another pause. "I can look around. I don't think it'd be smart to take him back to the sheriff where Laura is. Even if there was a conference room, Laura would probably see him and that wouldn't be a good idea."

"Okay," Morgan said. "See if you can find a room, and get J.J. Garcia probably wouldn't want to look at these pictures. They're graphic. I want to have a little talk with the sheriff first thing in the morning about letting teenagers near murderers."

"Okay," Prentiss said. "I'll meet you guys out front in like half an hour."

"How are Reid and Hotch?" Rossi asked quickly before she hung up.

Morgan wasn't even sure that he wanted to know. He saw how small Reid looked in the hospital bed, and how his exhausted frame was jolting up and down right after they found him. Morgan almost lost one of his best friends. He would do anything for Reid. He really would. He still couldn't even come to terms with himself that Reid almost died. The youngest of their team was beaten, raped, and he would be forever scarred with this information for the rest of his life. If Morgan couldn't deal with it, how could Reid be expected to? He had to live through it.

"Hotch has been asking to see Reid," Prentiss said softly. "Reid hasn't woken up since you guys left. Neither one of them are looking that great. Garcia has been crying."

Morgan couldn't think of anything to say. Sooner or later, Hotch was going to see Reid. Morgan didn't know if that was a good thing or not. If Hotch really did rape their youngest member, wouldn't that do more damage than good?

"Did Hotch say anything else to you? About Reid?" Morgan finally asked.

"No," Rossi said.

"I want to find out what exactly happened between them," Morgan said. "If Reid doesn't want to see the doctors, I don't want to upset him anymore. I remember that the doctor was saying that Reid was…assaulted many times, and the last time was recent. I just don't want to do anything that will set him back."

"I know," Prentiss said. "But I don't really want to talk about that with Hotch. His mental state isn't the best right now either, but he's been wanting to see Reid since he woke up."

"None of that is going to happen tonight," Rossi said. "Let's concentrate on these pictures we found in the barn, and the kid in the backseat for now."

"I'll be outside," Prentiss said.

A moment later, the phone clicked off and Rossi put it back in his pocket. A glance in the rearview mirror told Morgan that Rickie hadn't seen any of the conversation. He was just staring out the window. What he really wanted to do was drop the kid off at home, throw the pictures out of the car, and take the next plane out of their with the team, but he couldn't do that. If Hotch and Reid had to live through it, he could at least look at pictures.

* * *

><p>Reid's mind was going on overload. Sweat was dripping from his face, and sharp cries escaped from his mouth even during sleep. Gable watched his young patient toss and turn in the hospital bed, and was worried from time to time that Reid was going to end up on the floor. He had been practicing medicine for what seemed like a lifetime, but he never had a patient like Reid before. He wanted to be able to actually talk to Reid. Treatment would probably go a lot easier if the agent knew what was going on, but Gable didn't have any way of predicting when that would be.<p>

_Reid's wrists were red and bleeding from being held in handcuffs for so long. His teeth were shattering, and his mouth was so terribly dry. When was the last time he had a drink? He couldn't remember. Hotch was across from him, also tied to some kind of pipe on the freezer floor. It looked like the chief leader was sleeping, but Reid couldn't tell for sure. Hotch was pale, but it didn't look like he was shivering like he was. Reid weakly turned his head to the side, and saw that Kate was sitting next to him. She was awake, but that bruise underneath her ribcage was bleeding. The blood was dripping down her side in a steady flow, but she didn't seem to notice. Was she always bleeding like that? Reid couldn't remember._

"_Was I sleeping?" Reid asked._

"_Just for a little bit," Kate answered. "We're all going to die here, aren't we?"_

"_We're not going to die," Reid said firmly. "The team is coming for us. They just need to figure out which family has us, and they'll be here." Was Reid trying to convince this himself?_

"_They aren't going to be here fast enough," Kate said. _

"_What happened when I was sleeping?" Reid asked. "What happened to Hotch?"_

"_I don't know. They had him out there for a long time. They just brought him back, and he hasn't woken up since. There are pieces of hotdog in his hair. I bet that woman was trying to feed him again." _

_Reid squinted his eyes to look closer when the freezer door slid open. Reid's breath caught in his throat when Joseph strolled in. His hands were behind his back, and a grin was across his face. Reid was sure that the teen was holding some kind of weapon, but he couldn't see what it was. He wanted to be sitting closer to Hotch or Reid. He was only a few feet away from them, but he felt alone and he was scared._

"_So who wants to come with me this time?" Joseph asked with a smile._

"_Go away Joseph," Kate said with a growl. _

"_I'm takin one of you with me. Whose it goin be? Put your legs down so I can see you better!"_

_He kicked Kate as hard as he could against her bruise, and she put her legs down. Reid did the same. He wasn't going to let her get hurt again if he could stop it. Joseph bent down like he was going to unhook her, but instead his arms swung from around, and he slammed a silver crowbar into the side of her head. She screamed right before the impact, and that was it. Blood squirted from her mouth, and landed on Reid's face. Reid tried scooting closer to her, to help her in whatever way that he could, but he was too late. Kate was dead. _

_While Reid was crying over his lost friend, Joseph had made his way over to Hotch. Repeating the same motion, he swung the crowbar at Hotch's head. Reid turned around just in time to see the bar crush Hotch's skull. Reid heard a loud sharp cracking noise as the bone broke, and Hotch's head fell limply to one side. Reid felt his heart speed up, and he couldn't catch his breath no matter how hard he tried. Tears were freely falling from his face, and he pathetically tried moving away as Joseph approached him. _

"_Guess who's next!" Joseph announced._

_Reid's restraints weren't going to allow him any kind of movement, and so all he could was try hiding his head behind his shoulder. His legs were back up by his chest, and his body was trembling everywhere. He was just so cold. _

"_It's okay," a familiar voice whispered._

_Reid looked up, and saw Daniel sitting in between him and Kate. Daniel looked like a ghost. He had no color in his lips at all, and there was frost in his hair._

"_Dying. It doesn't hurt. It's fast," Daniel said pleasantly._

_Reid felt another tear fall from his face, and Reid looked up as Joseph lifted up the crowbar. This was it. He was going to die. Kate was dead. Hotch was dead, and now it was his turn. He wasn't going to beg for his life. He closed his eyes as soon as Joseph swung the weapon, but it didn't kill him. The fiery pain shot all over his body, and he screamed as loud as he could. Why wouldn't this pain just end? Why couldn't he just die? He felt his stomach turning, and he leaned over to one side and dry heaved onto the frozen floor. He felt the crowbar slam into his bruised chest, and he screamed again. _

Gable watched from the doorway as long as he could, but as soon as he saw Reid leaning over, he couldn't wait any longer. He rushed in, and held Reid up as the younger man dry heaved over the bed. Nothing came up, but his body was violently shaking and he was breathing too fast. Gable positioned him back on the bed when Reid started screaming. One of the nurses heard the commotion, and hurried in to help hold Reid down. His body was thrashing off the bed, and Gable thought about grabbing a shot to subdue him when Reid's eyes shot open. He looked up at the doctor for just a second, and Gable was sure he was going to pass out, but one of the agents walked in. He forgot her name, but she literally ran over to where Reid was sitting up.

"It's okay Reid," she coaxed. "It's just me. You were having a nightmare."

Gable took that as a sign to step back, and he slowly backed away towards the window with the nurse. He wasn't going to put this man through any more pain.

"J.J.?" Reid asked with a weak voice.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "You're at the hospital. It's okay."

"Where's Hotch? And Kate?"

"Hotch is just down the hallway. He's sleeping, and he's just fine. Kate Parker is dead. You don't remember?" J.J. asked.

"I do," Reid said after a long pause. "Yeah. And Daniel is in the hospital too. I told Prentiss about his tumor. I…I'm just so tired."

"I know, it's okay," J.J. said patting his hair down. She helped him lay back down, but his eyes were still wandering all over the place. "The man over there is a doctor. He's just going to keep you safe, and he's going to help you get better. Just go back to sleep. Okay? I'll be right here when you wake up."

"Morgan's here too? And Rossi? Garcia?" Reid asked.

"Everyone is here," J.J. said gently.

Reid settled down in his bed, and shut his eyes. Gable basically held his breath until he was confident that Reid was sleeping. It didn't take more than a few minutes. The agent really was exhausted, and these constant nightmares weren't helping. The nurse smiled at J.J., and left to return to her normal duties. Gable stepped closer to the blonde agent, and checked on Reid's vitals. His heart rate was back to normal, and the sweating had stopped.

"Thank you," Gable said quietly.

"I was just going to the bathroom when I heard him," J.J. said.

"All of you are really close," Gable said smiling. "You're more like family than just some team. That is really going to help him."

"We would never let him go through this on his own," J.J. said.

"By the way, who is Daniel? You said he was at the hospital? I don't think we have any patients here by that name," Gable said.

"You don't. He was one of the Bates kids. He's dead," the blonde woman said in a voice just above the whisper. "I don't know why Reid keeps asking about him, but he does. We have the coroner looking at him now to see if he had brain cancer. Reid said he had all the symptoms."

"If he's dead, why would that even matter?"

"It matters to Reid," J.J. said quickly. "We don't want to upset him any further right now."

"Oh," Gable said. "I understand. I really am sorry about all of this, and I wish I could be doing more to help. Agent Reid is doing better than he was when he first got here, and he will continue to heal as long as we can keep these nightmares under control. I have nurses that will check up on him constantly, and I'll be staying the night here myself to keep an eye on him."

"Thank you doctor," J.J. said.

"Don't worry about him during your meeting with your team tonight. He's going to be well taken care of," Gable said smiling.

J.J. smiled back at him, and went back to looking at her friend. She took his hand, and Gable took that as a sign to leave. He jotted down a few notes on his pad, and left the room as quietly as he could. He wasn't looking forward to spending another night at the hospital, but he wasn't going to risk anything happening to his patient while he was at home. He was going to be there until Reid was out of the critical stage of healing.

* * *

><p>It almost seemed colder outside by the time they arrived at the hospital. Rickie was mildly confused. He was sure that the FBI agents told him they were taking him to the station. What were they doing there? He wasn't sick. He just stood outside until all of the doors were locked. The older of the two agents was holding the shoebox close to him along with the guns and some sweater vest thing they found near the box. It was all ripped up, but Rickie figured it belonged to one of the victims or something like that.<p>

_Y r we here_ he scribbled on his notepad. He held up for Agent Rossi to see. Rickie didn't think the other agent liked him.

"The rest of our team is here," Rossi said. "And there's more room. They want to meet you."

Rickie had more questions, but it was freezing out there. He walked side by side with Agent Rossi to the front of the hospital where a woman with dark hair was waiting. She looked tired. She was staring at Rickie when her face became blocked with Agent Morgan. They were talking about something, but it wasn't really any of Rickie's business. He still couldn't understand why he was even there. He didn't do anything wrong, and he didn't like to be treated like he did. There were only a few cars in the parking lot, and those were probably mostly doctors and nurses. He didn't think he had ever seen this hospital before. He didn't live there that long, and it was rare for him to get sick.

When he turned back to see what was happening, the dark haired woman was looking at him again. She smiled, and offered him her hand.

"I'm Agent Prentiss," she said.

Rickie smiled at her, but didn't write anything down. There was nothing to say.

Rossi pointed at the hospital, and Rickie followed them inside. He stayed close to Agent Rossi. The hospital was much warmer than it was outside. He almost didn't even need his jacket. Agent Prentiss led them past the waiting room and down a hallway behind the nurse's station. No one tried to stop them or ask any questions. It had to be amazing to be an FBI agent. The short walk down the hallway of white walls and bland painting led them to a large room. Two women, he presumed were also agents, were sitting close to each other at a table.

Rossi put the box down in front of the two women, and sat down next to them. Rickie, seeing no other choice, sat down beside him. Agent Morgan chose to stand. Rickie put his pad of paper in front of him, and waited for the questions to start coming. Rickie was staring at Agent Morgan when he noticed the blonde woman talking to him.

"Old are you?"

_17_

"Don't you go to the high school in town?" Rossi asked. "I didn't see you there."

_Homeschooled_

"Where are you parents?" the blonde woman asked.

_Don't know. Live with a foster family_

"Why were you talking to Laura?" Agent Prentiss asked.

_I wasn't. she was talkin 2 me. She basically said there is a gun hidden in the barn and if I gave it 2 her, shed get me a car. I tried tellin sheriff bill and he didn't care so I went 2 look myself_

"Do you know who Laura is?" Agent Rossi asked.

_A bad smelling woman who is n major trouble_

"You don't know why?" Rossi asked.

_No. Just thought the guns would help ur case_

"You shouldn't have been playing around in there,"" the blonde agent said. "Especially at night."

_If I didn't, u guys wouldn't have found that shoebox. Laura is a murderer, isn't she?_

Agent Rossi glanced at the blonde woman, and then at Agent Morgan. They didn't need words to tell him that Laura was a murderer. As crazy as she was, he still had a hard time imagining a woman of that size killing anything. Rickie turned to look at Morgan who was still standing by the doorway. If he was adding anything to the conversation, Rickie didn't know.

"iff Bill tell you anything?" Rossi asked.

_No. he never does_

"And you didn't hear…see anything about it on the news?" the blonde woman asked.

_Don't watch the news_

Rickie turned around when he saw Rossi looking behind him. Morgan was finally sitting down at the table, but his body was at an angle that made it impossible for Rickie to see what he was saying. His arms were crossed over his chest, and whatever he was saying, it wasn't anything good. His body looked tense.

"Do your parents know where you are?" Prentiss asked.

_Foster parents. Don't think they care_

Agent Prentiss looked over at Rossi. Was Rickie in trouble? He hated this. He didn't do anything wrong, and he was being treated like a criminal. If he could, he would walk out there right then and there, but he didn't know exactly where he was and was wasn't stupid enough to be wandering around the forest this late at night.

"re you hungry?" the other blonde woman suddenly asked.

Rickie had a taco had the station, but that was hours ago. He nodded his head at her, and she smiled as if she was delighted for an excuse to leave.

"I can get you some food," she said quickly.

Her blue glasses matched her blue dress perfectly, and he noticed that she even had a blue butterfly clip in her hair to complete the look. He didn't think he had ever seen someone match like that before. She was the only one in the group that actually put some thought into what she wore. He decided he liked her that because of that.

She held out her hand, and after Rickie made sure that none of the others would object, he took it. He was sure that she was talking to him, but he was distracted by the looks on the other's faces. All of them looked like they had gone to hell and back. Or just stayed in hell. Something like that. Whatever they were working on wasn't good. It probably was a good thing that he was going to the kitchen. He saw the top photo in the shoebox of the naked man. He didn't want to have to see anymore.

* * *

><p>"I think he's just a normal kid," Prentiss said when she was sure that Garcia had him out the door.<p>

"I still don't buy the story of him talking to a psychopath and riding his bike all the way out there to find a gun," Morgan said.

Prentiss couldn't explain it, but she trusted the kid and his story. He didn't look like a trouble maker, and his blue eyes showed intelligence. For the most part, he knew what was going on.

"He probably really did think he was helping," Rossi said. "Living in a small town like this, I can see why he would want his moment to shine. I can't see the people living here being quite as open to his disability as we are."

"I think he has had a rough life," Prentiss added. "He didn't tell his foster parents where he was going, and he didn't mention any friends or anything. He's probably very lonely."

"I'd like to talk to the sheriff about him too," J.J. said. "His clothes did look way too big for him. It was kind of sad. They probably belonged to his new siblings, and his fosters were too cheap to get him clothes that actually fit."

Prentiss was going to say something else, but her eyes found the old shoebox on the table. The lid was closed, but it looked too full. The lid barely fit on it. Dirt was glued to the sides, but the box itself didn't look ancient. Somebody had been taking care of it.

"We didn't look at the pictures that closely," Rossi said.

Prentiss reached over for it after she slipped some gloves on, and pulled the lid off. The first thing she saw was a torn up vest that Reid was wearing during the car accident. Her heart broke. She squeezed the vest in her hands, and put it to the side. The first photo she saw was the one that Rossi and Morgan were describing to her in the car. Reid was lying on the floor. His hands were bound behind his back, and bruises and bleeding cuts scattered around his chest. Her air got caught in her throat. He looked as though he already dead.

"Oh my God," J.J. said from behind her. J.J. brought Prentiss back into the real world, and she put that photo on the table just to be greeted with another one of Reid on a bed.

Prentiss started flipping through the pictures faster just so she wouldn't have to look at them. She didn't want to look at Reid like that. She didn't think she even could. After counting 12 photos taken of the boy genius, she came upon the ones taken of Hotch. Like Reid, he was unconscious in all of the photos. She got a good view of his bleeding legs, and he had ketchup smeared all over his mouth in more than one photo. If she could think more clearly, she would have been guessing that he had been force fed, but she couldn't think right now. She had to get through this. After passing 12 photos of Hotch, she saw a photo of Kate Parker, the teacher. The teacher was the first person in the stack that she had seen dead yet. She was positioned on what looked like an old rocking chair. Just like Hotch and Reid, she was also naked.

"I don't want to look anymore," J.J. said.

Prentiss flipped through a few more of the teacher, and finally found ones that she didn't recognize off the top of her head. She guessed the teenage girl was Aubrey, and she remembered seeing the two corpses with Reid's and Hotch's names carved into them. The rest of them, Prentiss didn't know at all. She did note that the only living people in the photos were Kate, Reid, and Hotch. Who would have the patience to sit around taking all these pictures?

"Do we know whose camera this belonged to?" J.J. asked.

"We couldn't find a camera," Morgan said. "Rickie found the guns, and we found the shoebox along with the vest there. We didn't stay for much longer, but there wasn't a camera anywhere."

"Unless it was kept inside," Rossi suggested.

"I think it was Daniel who took these pictures," Prentiss said.

"What makes you think that?" Rossi asked.

"Well," she said standing up. "Think about it. I don't think Laura would know how to work a camera, Joseph didn't have the patience, and I'm pretty sure Benjamin wouldn't want one. I just can't see them affording a camera."

"So the camera didn't belong to them?" Morgan asked.

"Doubt it," Prentiss said. "They didn't have a computer in there."

"When are we going to tell Reid about Daniel?" J.J. asked quietly. "He was having another nightmare tonight. It was a bad one. When he woke up, Daniel was one of the first people he asked about. We are going to have to tell him soon. I don't like leading him on. He was asking about Hotch and Kate too."

"He forgot about Kate?" Morgan asked.

"Just for a second," J.J. answered. "Do you think they killed her in front of him?"

Prentiss wanted to know everything that Hotch and Reid went through, but nobody was going to ask them. Nobody was willingly going to make them go through those memories again. All they would have is what they found at the crime scene, and what Laura was going to tell them. Prentiss didn't know the woman, but she already didn't trust her.

"I can't believe this," Morgan said slamming his fist down on the table. "So after they were done beating him up and raping him, they killed someone in front of him. They were kept in the same place. There were three sets of chains in that damned freezer. They knew her."

"He couldn't even stay awake," J.J. said. "He needs to be home. He's exhausted."

"Hotch has been asking to see Reid too," Prentiss brought up again. "Maybe he could be the one to tell Reid about what happened to Daniel? Hotch knows."

"We need to find out what really happened between them," Morgan argued. "It Hotch really did what he said he did to Reid, wouldn't that just make things worse? Reid was raped. God only knows how many times. I'm sure that if that did happen, Hotch had to at gun point, but that doesn't change what happened. Rape is rape."

"He's going to have to see him eventually Morgan," Rossi said. "We can't prevent them from seeing each other. I don't think Reid is healthy to really see anyone right now. Is he? Has he said a single word to the doctor?"

"No," J.J. said.

"Then why are we even talking about him seeing Hotch right now? We need to take one thing at a time here. What's going to happen with Rickie tonight?"

"We could drive him back home?" J.J. asked.

"I don't really like driving him back to a place that doesn't bother calling the police to find out where he is," Prentiss said.

Her eyes wandered back over to the photos spread out all over the table. Why was Reid's picture the first one that caught her eye? She felt another lump get caught her throat, and she forced herself to look away. What kind of sick human being could do that someone? Whatever happened to Hotch and Reid in that house is something they were going to have to live with for the rest of their lives.

* * *

><p>Sheriff Bill basically had Kate Parker's house torn apart looking for evidence of inappropriate relationships with Daniel Bates. He was confident that he was going to find something by that afternoon, but after the sun went down behind the trees, his hope dwindled. He found an album of photographs of some black Pomeranian dog, old cds that filled up most of her closet, and a diary that only mentioned Daniel once in passing. Why the hell would she let the kid borrow her camera and not even write about it in her diary? It didn't make sense.<p>

"Sheriff, there's nothing else here."

"Fine," Bill snapped. "We can resume searching in the morning."

"Searching for what exactly? There's nothing in this house to look for. You read through her diary. Isn't that enough?"

"It will never be enough if that woman was having an affair with a kid in my town!" Bill shouted.

"Sir, I don't think Kate was doing anything. I knew her. I talked to her a few times, and she was very dedicated to her job. She would never do anything like your implying with a student. Maybe it's not my place to say, but I'm pretty sure it was the student that did all of this crap. You need to back off this and call her parents. They're probably worried sick."

"Yeah, well I'll do that after I call Tommy's parents in the morning," Bill said. He looked around the disaster that used to be Kate's bedroom and sighed loudly.

"His parents have been calling all afternoon," Ronnie said.

"What?" Bill asked looking up. Why would they be calling so soon?

"Two of the agents stopped by their house earlier and told them what happened. Tommy's mother isn't taking it too well, and his father has been demanding to see the body. I told him that you would be calling them later tonight."

"They already told the family?" Bill was infuriated. That was his job. His responsibility. He owed it to the people in his town to deliver all of the news, good or bad. It wasn't up to the FBI, nothing more than visitors in his town, to take over his job. He was the one who knew the townsfolk like the back of his hand, and he wanted to keep it that way.

"Somebody needed to tell them sheriff. He's been missing for a while now. I'd be upset too if I was his parent," Ronnie said.

"Just get back to the station," Bill said. "Take over whoever is watching Laura. I'll meet you there in about an hour."

Bill sat down on Kate's bed, and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed the first number that he knew was an agent that he found. He didn't care which one it was. It only rung twice before a male voice answered.

"Agent Rossi."

"Sheriff," Bill said. "Why were you at the Phelp's house today?"

"We thought that it would be appropriate to let them know about their son," Rossi answered quickly and swiftly.

"That wasn't your decision to make," Bill said sharply. "It's my town, and I was going to do that myself. These people know me and they trust me. I should have told them."

"My apologizes," Rossi said.

"I was at the station most of the day, and then I went back to Kate Parker's house," Bill said getting back on his feet. He was just going to put on more weight if he kept sitting down. "We found a camera in Daniel's room that had his teacher's name written on the back of it. I had my men going through her room looking for something that would point to an affair or something."

"It was his camera?" Rossi asked.

"Well, it was in his room but it belonged to that teacher…Why? Did you find the pictures?"

"We found them tonight," Rossi answered. "After we talked to Tommy's mother, we stopped by the barn. The pictures were in an old shoebox underneath the floor."

"Why the hell were you looking underneath the floorboards?"

"We were just looking around, and we heard a noise. Who do you have talking to Laura?"

"No one is allowed to talk to her," Bill said proudly. "Strict orders. I do reckon that I'm the only voice she's heard directed at her in quite a while."

"You have a kid working for you," Rossi said. "Laura told him to go looking in the barn for a gun. She was hoping he would help her. Lucky for us, he's smarter than she is. He said he tried telling you about it, but that you just brushed him off."

Bill sat back down. A kid working for him? Who the hell was talking to Laura behind his back? The only kid he could think of was Rickie, and that boy couldn't talk for the life of him.

"You mean Rickie?"

"Yes."

"That kid can't talk to Laura. He can't talk to no one. Don't know if you gathered yet that he's deaf and dumb," Bill said. He should have listened to his wife when she told him to send that kid home until Laura was in some federal prison.

"He's deaf, but he's not dumb sheriff. You should never allow kids his age to be allowed near people like Laura."

"Yeah, well, I'll deal with that tomorrow. What kind of pictures did you find in the shoebox?"

"Pictures going back to the very first victim," Rossi said. "The older pictures aren't the best quality, and they aren't from the best angle, but they get better as the pictures become more recent. Daniel wasn't always using his teacher's camera from the date of these photos, but he was definitely using her for the more recent ones."

"There's pictures of your agents?"

"And of the teacher whose home your invading," Rossi said.

"It's late now, but I'm going to want to see those photos first thing in the morning," Bill said.

Bill lowered his phone down when he felt it buzzing, and saw that his wife had sent three text messages. Women. He knew he should just head back home. It's been a long day, and he probably wasn't thinking straight. He took one last room at Parker's bedroom, and then shut the door behind him. He didn't want to admit to himself, but Ronnie and the agents probably were right. All of this did fall on Daniel, and the rest of his family. Parker was another innocent.

"We can meet you at the station," Rossi said.

"When do I get to talk to the wounded agents?" Bill said as he exited the house. He took care to lock the door behind him. He wasn't going to have any vandals breaking in and stealing crap from a dead woman's house.

"Why would you need to talk to them?"

"To get their story down," Bill said simply. He found his car keys hidden deep within his pockets, and made his way to his car.

"They don't need anyone talking to them right now," Rossi said. "They almost got murdered, and you want to talk to them about it? Neither one of them have even talked to the doctor yet."

"I need to get their stories down," Bill said more firmly. No idiot from the FBI was going to tell him how to run his investigation.

"They will talk about it when they are ready to," Rossi said.

Bill was going to talk to them whether Agent Rossi or his little friends wanted him to or not. The sooner he got what they had to say written down, the sooner he could move on with shutting this case down entirely. He got into his car, and fastened the seat belt over his chest. He was going to the hospital tomorrow, and maybe he would be able to talk to the doctors to see if the patients could go home any sooner. He was getting real sick and tired of the FBI in his town.

"Good night agent."

* * *

><p>Garcia let Rickie pick out anything he wanted from the hospital cafeteria. She grabbed a sandwich for herself while he picked out a sandwich, chips, two cookies, and soda. She wasn't used to eating dinner without having some kind of conversation, but the only way he could talk was through writing it down and that took away from him eating. She thought he looked too skinny so she just watched him eat and tried not to think about the pain that Hotch and Reid were going through in the rooms upstairs.<p>

As he was chewing, he reached for his pad and started scribbling away. He held it up for her to read when he was finished.

_I like ur style_

She smiled. This kid was a sweetie.

"Thank you," she said. "I try. Most people never even see what I'm wearing. I usually work with computers. "How long have you been in foster care?"

_My whole life. _

"You haven't stayed with your current family for that long?"

_A few months. I usually don't stay with a family for more than a year_

"Why not? That's terrible!"

_Families want babies to adopt, not kids my age. Even I was younger, most people don't want to deal with a disability. _

Garcia felt bad just for asking. It really wasn't any of her business. She took a bite out of her sandwich, and tried thinking about what she would be doing right now if she wasn't on the case. Would they be working on another one or would they be enjoying the last few hours left of the weekend? She would rather be anywhere else but here.

"Do you know any sign language?" Garcia asked.

_Just a few words_

"Why didn't you learn?" Garcia asked. That didn't make any sense. That should have been one of the first things they taught him.

_Tried when I was younger but I never really learned. Besides, no one else knows so its kinda stupid. Easier this way_

"I think Emily might…" Garcia stopped. She had no idea if Emily knew sign language or not. Rickie was right in a way. By learning to read lips, he could talk with everyone. Not that many people knew sign language. Garcia sipped on her soda, and thought about getting some hot chocolate for herself and Rickie. It was a good night for that.

_Who is virgin boy_

Garcia had to re-read what he wrote. Virgin boy? What was he talking about?

"Who?"

_Laura mentioned someone she called virgin boy. Figured he was a victim or somethin_

Garcia didn't know who virgin boy was, and she didn't want to know. There was a reason that she liked working with computers versus on the field with the others. She couldn't deal with this kind of stuff. Something in the back of her head was trying to tell her that virgin boy was probably Reid, but she erased that from her mind.

"I don't know," Garcia said quickly. "Why were you talking to Laura? She's not a very nice person, and she should be locked in a cellar somewhere instead of out in the open."

Rickie ate one of his cookies, and then went back to writing. Garcia really did feel sorry for him. Whenever he wanted to talk to someone, he had to write. She couldn't imagine life like that.

_She threw a cup at me so I went over there and she kinda just started talkin. It was weird. I didn't wanna talk 2 her but she wouldn't stop. How many people did she kill? I know that shes a murderer. _

"I don't know," Garcia said. She didn't want to talk about this anymore. "We should probably get back. The others will be wondering where we went. Did you want to get some hot chocolate to take with us?"

Rickie smiled, and nodded his head at her. He threw all of the trash away, and gathered up his pad and pen while Garcia ordered the hot chocolate. What she really wanted to do before she went back to the hotel was visit with Reid. She felt that she was the only one who hadn't seen boy genius since he got here, and she missed him more than words could say. She missed his goofy magic tricks and his unintelligible rambles abut stuff she knew nothing about. Why couldn't these bad guys kidnap other bad guys to just make life easier? It never happened that way. The bad guys always take the good guys or random people who were just in the way. It broke her heart to think about it.

"I don't think the sheriff like me," Rossi said from behind her.

She jumped, and was grateful that she wasn't holding the hot chocolate cups. She wasn't expecting someone to just sneak up behind her like that. Rossi smiled at her, and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry about that."

"Don't just sneak up on me like that!" Garcia wailed. "I almost spilled the hot chocolate and then it would have been a mess all over the floor and…why doesn't the sheriff like you?"

Rossi looked over towards Rickie, but the teen was still cleaning up the table. How many people actually tried cleaning off a table in the hospital cafeteria before? This kid was one of a kind.

"We can talk about it more when we get back to the conference room. I'm goin have to take Rickie back home. He can't sleep in the hospital tonight."

"Does he have to go back?" Garcia complained. She didn't know anything about his foster parents, but she already didn't like them for not calling once to find out where he was.

"I don't think the hospital staff would appreciate it if we dropped him off at the nursery," Rossi said smiling.

"Fine," Garcia said.

She trailed behind Rossi with the hot chocolate in her hands. She watched Rossi slowly tell Rickie that he was going to take him home. It was amusing to see Rossi talk in slow motion, but she probably did the same thing when she talked to the teenager. Rickie nodded at him, and she handed him his warm cup of chocolate.

"I didn't know if you wanted whip cream or not but then I thought who wouldn't want whip cream with hot chocolate so I got you some," Garcia said in one breath.

She took off the blue scarf she was wearing, and wrapped it around her neck. She was sure that he had plenty of warm clothes back at home, but she wanted him to be cozy on the way too. He smiled at her, and she wondered for a second if she was embarrassing him.

"You can keep it," she said proudly. "I have another."

Rickie hugged her, and she hugged him tightly back. She prayed that life would get better for him, but she couldn't see people treating him any better once he did get out in the real world. People didn't tend to be kind to people with disabilities, but life had to be nice for Rickie.

"Safe ride home," she whispered. He couldn't see what she told him as he turned away from her, but it didn't matter. Rossi heard, and he led the kid out of the cafeteria.

* * *

><p>Morgan snuck away to Reid's room after Rossi left to drop Rickie off. Prentiss and J.J. were still looking over the photographs, and Garcia was browsing around the gift shop. Morgan didn't see any doctors walking around the hallways, and no one else was in his room. He slipped inside the partially opened door, and stood for a minute while he listened to the machines beep around him. It just broke his heart to listen to all that. Reid shouldn't have had to be there.<p>

Morgan composed himself, and took a seat in the chair next to Reid. He admitted that Reid looked much better than he did outside in the snow, but he still didn't look like himself. His skin was still too pale, and Morgan found it hard to ignore the red marks around his wrists. Morgan put his hands over Reid's cut up hand. He squeezed it, and warmed it up a little with his body heat. He would give anything to have been in Reid's place. Anything.

"We're going to get through this kid," Morgan whispered. "I'm here for you."

Morgan laid his head down on the bed, and closed his eyes. His friend needed him. Reid couldn't be alone in a strange hospital. What if he woke up again, and nobody was there that he knew? Morgan wasn't going anywhere.

_yay for chapter 28. most of my chapters have been around 16 pages but this chapter and the last have been like 18 pages so i want to try to get them back to 16 if thats ok. do u guys hate sheriff bill yet? hes not like evil. hes just lived in the small town his whole life so he doesnt really like outsiders. im sure u guys like rickie tho. hes awsum. well, next chapter is laura and hopefully, hotch and reid seeing each other again. yay! plz review! xoxoxo_


	29. Chapter 29

_all i may say is that u may all hit me once for making you wait this long 4 a chapter. im not evil. well, maybe a lil bit, but only with my stories. i was planning on taking a break from writing during christmas and now its like feb so i was a super long break but i am back and ready 2 write. um warnings for this chapter, full of angst so im sorry 4 that. u guys might like it tho but it was sad 2 write. so enjoy da read!_

Rossi wasn't a huge fan of driving in silence. He liked conversation, and if he couldn't get conversation, he loved music. He had the radio on low, but it was still strange to have someone else in the car and not have a single word spoken. Rickie stared out the window for the most part with his notepad on his lap. He never tried to write anymore down, but Rossi was sure that was because he was driving. Rossi couldn't read something and drive at the same time unless he wanted them to be killed in some horrific crash.

Rossi pulled up in front a two story house that matched the address he had, and parked the car. Rickie didn't get out right away. He just kept staring out the window. It was a modest looking house with old Christmas lights waiting to be turned on again soon, and a parked RV that probably hadn't been used for years. He was hoping to get a call from the sheriff telling him that Rickie's parents were looking for him, but that call wasn't going to come. Rossi got out of the car, and walked up the steps to the front porch. He turned around to wait for Rickie who was lagging behind him.

"Don't go to the station tomorrow," Rossi said slowly so Rickie could read his lips. "You probably have some school work to do here though. It's a weekday."

Rickie shrugged. He pulled off the jacket that Morgan gave him earlier, but Rossi wouldn't take it.

"You can give it back to him yourself," Rossi said.

_Plz don't tell them where I have been_

Rossi didn't say one way or the other, but he turned back around and rung the bell. He heard voices as someone approached the door, and a woman pulled it open. Her messy blonde hair hung around her shoulders, and her gray shirt had a recent stain on it like she was cooking earlier. Dolls were scattered on the carpet she was standing on, and Rossi could just see a man sitting at the kitchen table next to a young girl. A book was in front of them, and she was scribbling problems on her paper. The man was wearing a striped blue shirt, and he had brown glasses on that matched the color of his hair. The child was wearing an adorable red dress with white tights.

"What?" the woman asked.

"Hi, I'm just bringing Rickie home," Rossi said.

Rickie reluctantly came out of the shadows, and went into the house. The man and the little girl looked up with little interest, but that didn't last long. They were back to looking at the math problems as soon as Rickie was inside. The girl was a spitting image of her father. Her braided hair was the exact color as the man's was, and even her glasses had the same type of frame. That certainly was daddy's little girl.

"You're not one of the cops at the station," she said.

"No, I'm not," Rossi said smiling. "I'm with the FBI here in town for a little while."

"My God Rickie," she said turning around sharply. Rickie lowered his head, but kept his eyes glued to his mother's face. "Where the hell did you go? What kind of trouble are you getting into now?"

"He isn't in trouble," Rossi said quickly.

"Where was he then?" she asked.

Rickie's eyes were begging Rossi not to say anything. Rossi understood where the kid was coming from. Telling the woman that Rickie was digging around in a crime scene didn't sound that great, and Rossi had a bad feeling that he was already treated like a second class citizen here.

"Just helping out at the station," Rossi said. "The sheriff has been so busy with everything lately, and Rickie was just doing his part to keep things going smoothly."

"Well, good," she said after a short pause. "Good. You can just never be too sure with these kids coming in and out of other foster homes. Got him that job to keep him busy."

"Is he the only foster child you have here?"

"I could only handle one agent," she said. "Got my two daughters here. I couldn't handle more than one foster kid at a time."

Rossi looked over her shoulder, and spotted a teenage girl lounging on the couch in front of the television. She looked uninterested in the fact that an FBI agent was at the front door. Then again, they only thing mildly interesting at her age was her cell phone that kept vibrating every few seconds.

"Get to your room," the woman said turning around to Rickie.

Rickie took one last look at Rossi, and ran up the stairs. The girls and their father didn't acknowledge his presence at all. Rickie did have it a lot better than other kids in the foster system did, but Rossi didn't like it that the parents treated their other children better than him.

"He's going to be 18 in March," the woman said turning back to Rossi. "You need anything else?"

"No," Rossi said softly. He knew that he couldn't save the entire world. No matter how many people he saved, there were so many more that would never get the help they needed. Two of his closest friends were in the hospital, and they needed him. They would be his main concern for now.

"How's the investigation going agent?" the man called out from the table.

"Going good," Rossi said. "Good night."

Rossi put his hands in his pocket, and strolled back to the car. The man shut the door before Rossi was off the porch. One of the upstairs rooms was lit up with a dim light, and Rossi could just see someone watching him. He felt terrible to leave Rickie there. There were more kinds of abuse than just physical, and Rickie deserved to live in a home that wanted him. He would probably do better not living in this town at all. Rossi noticed that the people who lived here tended to stick to their own kind. They didn't like outsiders and Rickie was considered an outsider. The foster parents not letting him attend the high school there just made it worse for the teenager.

He waved up towards the window, and got in his car. He would see Rickie again, but Rossi didn't think he would sleep well that night. There was just too much going on for him to clear his mind. He was going to the sheriff's station the next morning to talk to that woman. He didn't know what Morgan planned to talk to her about, but she was going to find out about what happened to her family. Seeing how Laura still thought her husband was doing well in some other jail, this wasn't going to be an easy or fun task. He had a bad feeling that the sheriff wasn't going to be that much help either. It would be better if that guy was just out of the way. He should probably start working on that memorial he kept telling everyone he was going to make for Tommy Phelps. Rossi didn't see that getting done anytime soon.

* * *

><p>Reid wasn't feeling any better. He just wanted to be back at home, alone in his own bed. His body was exhausted, and it took more energy than he was used to just to stay awake. He just didn't want to sleep anymore. He couldn't. All he dreamed about was how he let Kate down. He kept telling her that nothing would happen to her. He was going to keep her safe, and help her get home. He wasn't even there when she died. He watched her leave with Joseph, and that was the last time he saw her. He felt tears forming in his eyes just thinking about her. Not seeing her die made it that much worse because all he could think about is what happened in that moment. He was sure that his imagination was making it much more terrible than it really was, but how would that be possible? She was his friend.<p>

He wasn't going to sleep, but he didn't feel like turning on the television. That wasn't going to calm down his worried mind. He scooted himself into a sitting position, and ignored the sudden burning sensation in his rear. He could handle the pain. He took a few seconds to brace himself for the agony he would feel once he swung his legs over the bed, but it had to be done. He held his breath, and turned his body to the side. He let his feet fall to the ground, but the pain didn't hurt too badly. Morgan had been with him most of the night, but Reid wasn't ready to talk to him yet. Reid could only talk to one person right now, and he was in another room. Reid only had a few minutes before Morgan returned from the bathroom, and so Reid got to work removing a few cords that were hooked up to him. They started beeping frantically the second they were off, and he was sure that he could stop them if he tried, but he didn't have the time.

Reid kept his hands on the bed while he shifted his weight to his feet. When he thought he was ready, he let go and immediately fell to the floor. It was easy to forget how weak he still was. He lifted himself up, and used the bed to balance himself once again. He didn't have time for this. Morgan would be back any second. Reid spotted the table near his bed. It wasn't exactly what he was looking for, but it would do. He put the empty cups and useless papers on his bed, and used the table as a walker. It wasn't steady, but the wheels on the table did give him the balance he needed. He took a few baby steps to make sure he wasn't going to fall flat on his face again, but he was confident this would work. Hotch's room wasn't that far from his. He heard the nurses talking earlier, and he needed to see Hotch more than anyone.

The floor was cold on his feet, and he wondered if a nurse tried to put socks on him and he fought them off. That wouldn't surprise him. He pushed open the door, and when he didn't see any nurses or doctors wandering around, he made his way into the hallway. There was only one nurse at the nurses' station, and she wasn't looking his way. Reid quietly held onto the creaking table, and managed to get past the station without attracting any attention his way. To his luck, the hospital was almost deserted. He was sure that he wasn't the only patient there, but it almost seemed that way. The lights were soft, and the music playing overhead was almost too light to be heard. He remembered that they were all in a small town, and the patients that went there couldn't compare to the amount of people who went to hospitals in larger towns.

Reid turned a corner, and he was almost lost in his thoughts. Why did all of this still seem like a dream? He kept expecting to wake up any second. It would be sunrise, and Hotch would be calling him because he woke up late. He would forget the fascinating dream he had about the creepy family from the south by the time he had a cup of coffee, but this wasn't a dream. He really did have bandages around his wrists from the chains he was tied to, and he would have scars from the hell he went through for his of his life. In a way, he was glad the family chose him and not another member of the team or an innocent bystander like Kate. He would never want to anyone else to go through what he had to through.

He stopped looking at the numbers above the doors long ago so he was thankful when he saw three balloons tied onto one of the doors. The bright colors on the balloons had Garcia's name written all over them. He pulled his table up beside the door, and knocked. As anxious as he was, he was going to make sure this was Hotch. With his luck, it would be some old man waiting for his adult daughter to visit.

"Come in," Hotch's voice called out.

Hotch didn't sound the same. It wasn't the strong and confident voice that Hotch usually carried. He sounded sad. Reid almost turned around. How was this going to help him? He was sure that seeing the chief leader looking small in a hospital bed wasn't going to help Reid's fragile state of mind, but he needed to see Hotch. That wasn't an option. He pushed the door open, and made sure to take tiny steps so he wouldn't be falling all over himself again. He wanted to bring his table in with him, but that would probably just make everything harder so he went in without it.

The television was, but the volume was turned down low. Reid kept his right hand against the wall to help balance himself, but his heart was pounding in his chest. He couldn't explain why. The setup in the room was similar to Reid's with a big chair near the window, and a small table with wheels was in front of the bed. Several large teddy bears were sitting in the chair, and Reid spotted more balloons tied onto the television stand. He kept his eyes on the floor to watch his step. The closer he got to the center of the room, the more confident he became that he would fall over simply from nerves than from the clumsiness of his feet.

"Reid?" Hotch called from the bed.

Reid finally looked up, and saw Hotch laying on the bed with one of his legs raised in a cast. He was pale, and it looked like he lost quite a bit of weight, but that could just be Reid's mind playing tricks on him. Hotch struggled to get in a sitting position while Reid made his way over to a smaller chair by the table.

"What…What are you doing here?" Hotch managed to ask. "You need to be resting."

"I needed to see you," Reid said quietly.

Reid didn't want to look Hotch in the eyes, but it was hard to look anywhere else. The hospital equipment wasn't exactly settling, and looking at the bandages covering up Hotch's legs gave him memories that he was better off not remembering. His eyes found the biggest balloon that Garcia dropped off earlier. It was blue with an elephant on it offering its well wishes. What was the designer thinking when he chose an elephant? Why not a teddy bear or a puppy?

Hotch scooted further up in his bed so that his head was off the pillow. He cleared his throat, and Reid couldn't keep his eyes away from Hotch's stare.

"Reid, we need to talk," Hotch said. "I'm,"

"Is Daniel here?" Reid asked cutting him off. Reid's heart was still pounding. He knew what Hotch wanted to talk about, but he wasn't ready yet. He didn't think he would ever be ready.

"What?" Hotch asked.

"Daniel, do you know if he is at this hospital? I wasn't sure, and nobody is talking to me. They might have him at a bigger hospital because of his condition, but I wanted to make sure."

"Reid…Laura is the only one who made it."

Reid's hands went cold. None of this could be happening. It couldn't.

"No, Daniel was out with me in the forest," Reid argued weakly.

"He's dead Reid," Hotch said. "Morgan and Prentiss killed Benjamin in the front yard. I shot Joseph in the family room. He was dead before anyone else got there. Rossi and J.J. found you with Daniel. You were unconscious, and he wasn't listening to Rossi. He was armed, and so the only choice they had was to shoot him. He could have killed you Reid. He would have killed you."

Reid couldn't breathe. Daniel couldn't be dead. Kate was dead, but not Daniel. He knew that Daniel had problems, but they could be fixed as long as he was away from that family and got the help he needed with that tumor. Daniel was the only reason that Reid was still alive. He would have been killed long ago by that father if Daniel wasn't there. Reid squeezed the sheets in his fist, but he couldn't get his breath over control. How could Daniel be dead? Hotch put his hand over Reid's fist, and Reid froze. The last time he felt Hotch was when they were in the freezer. Hotch was behind him, and was spreading Reid's legs apart.

"Don't touch me!"

Reid cried out, and pulled his hand away as fast as he could. He fell out of the chair, and landed roughly on his side. The fiery pains from his rear shot up his system, and he screamed. The world around him was spinning, and all he could think about was getting away. He used his hands to pull him away from the bed, but he was in agony. He was in hell. There was no other way to explain it. His hands were trembling, and he was sure that Hotch was saying something, but he couldn't hear it and he didn't care. He heard someone else come in the room, but his vision was just too blurry to concentrate anymore. Foreign hands were touching him all over, but he couldn't get away. Kate was dead. Daniel was dead, and Hotch was suffering in the hospital. Reid gave up trying to crawl to freedom, and his eyes rolled back in his head. He never saw the blackness coming, but he accepted it.

* * *

><p>Gable watched from behind a computer while Agent Reid walked down the hallway, and into the other agent's room. He had to give the kid credit for using the table as a walker, and while it probably wasn't the best idea to let him see Agent Hotchner yet, he sure went through a lot of trouble to attempt it. Gable figured a few minutes wouldn't hurt. If all went well, he was sure that he was going to be able to have his first real conversation with Reid that night. It would be nice to talk to the young man that he was trying to help.<p>

"Hey man, did one of your nurses take Reid back for some tests?" Agent Morgan asked as he walked up the station.

"We don't normally do testing this late at night," Gable said calmly.

"Then where is he?"

"He got up on his own, turned the corner, and got to the other agent's room," Gable said.

"What?" Morgan asked, his voice raising. 'He's where?"

Just at that moment, they heard a disturbance where Hotch's room was. It was almost like someone shouted, but then there was a distinct scream and the sound of something crashing. Gable jumped out of his chair, singled one of the nurses, and ran behind Morgan to the room. Morgan put his hands over his head, and stood just out of the way so Gable could get there with the nurse. Reid was on the floor, only a few feet away from the bed. He was hyperventilating, and Gable could see from where he was standing that some of the stitches had torn open. There was a small amount of blood on the floor, and the nurse was beside him before he could register what was going on. How did this happen? Everything was going so well.

Gable joined the nurse on the floor, and she had her hands on Reid's shoulders to try to steady him down. He wasn't even looking at them. He was having a full out panic attack.

"Agent Reid, can you hear me?" Gable asked loudly.

Before he could try anything else, Reid's head dropped to the tile floor. Gable looked up, and saw the other agent was looking terrified on his bed. He looked close to tears, but he wasn't saying anything. Gable pulled Reid's gown back over his legs, and looked back at the blood.

"We need to get him back to his room," Gable said. "Can you get Emma in here? His stiches are going to need to be redone, and I don't want him left alone anymore. We can't have him wandering around the hospital."

"What happened?" Morgan asked looking at Hotch.

"I don't know," Hotch said. "He knows about Daniel… He didn't take that well, but he needed to know. He was upset, but then I tried touching his hand to calm him down and that's what did it. He fell off his chair, and I couldn't help him. He was scared to death."

Morgan look like he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut. What they said didn't matter to Gable. Reid didn't like anyone touching him, and that included his team.

"All of you must remember that he is a victim of rape," Gable said slowly. "He was raped several times, and while I haven't really worked with people in his situation before, I know that is takes time before they are back to normal. He will recover. I'm confident he will, but touch will just make him recall the violence that he suffered through. He can't have that right now."

"Oh dear," Emma said as she came in with a bed. She lowered the bed, and bent down to help Gable lift Reid up. She gently placed Reid's head on the pillow while Gable covered up his skinny legs with the warm sheet.

"Can you help me with the stitches? Those need to be done tonight," Gable said. Reid's face wore a tired expression, and tangled hair fell around his eyes.

"Of course," Emma said. "I'll get him ready."

Emma expertly guided the bed out of the room, and Gable found some towels in the closet. He knew that the janitor could easily clean this up, but Reid was his patient and he was going to take care of him. He got down on his knees, and got to work scrubbing. Morgan's mouth was clenched shut, and Hotch looked like he was close to having a panic attack himself.

"Is he going to be okay?" Hotch asked.

"Of course," Gable said. "Torn stitches are nothing to worry about."

"I shouldn't have told him anything," Hotch said. "I knew it wasn't a good idea, but Reid kept asking. I don't think he should see me again for a while. I'm part of the reason he's the way he is."

"You can see him again agent, but you need to let him rest more. He's been through a lot. You both have. Just remember that touching him isn't a good idea for a while," Gable said.

Hotch looked over at Morgan, but didn't say anything more. The two of them knew something secret, and they weren't going to let Gable in on the secret. He finished scrubbing the floor, and after bundling up the towels, he got back on his feet. He didn't need to know their secret. He was going to stitch Reid back up, assign a nurse to watch him at all times, and call his wife to let her know he would be spending the night there again. He knew that she hated it when he didn't come home at night, but he was needed there. She would have to understand.

"Dr. Sullivan will probably be here shortly to check up on you," he told Hotch.

Hotch didn't even seem to hear him. The other agent heard the message though. As Morgan moved closer to Hotch's bed, Gable knew it was time for him to go. Catherine would be calling him soon, and he wanted to be done with the stitching by the time she called. He offered the two men a good night, and he silently prayed that Reid was really going to be alright.

* * *

><p>Once the doctor left, Morgan sat down on the chair that he assumed Reid was sitting in only a few minutes earlier. Hotch was emotionally drained, but Morgan knew that he wouldn't be going to sleep anytime soon. Who could sleep after what just went on?<p>

"How are you feeling?" Morgan asked slowly.

"How do you think?" Hotch snapped.

"Calm down," Morgan said lifting his hands up. "It's just me."

"I know, I know," Hotch said shifting in his bed. "I wasn't expecting Reid to come. I knew that he was going to, and I tried talking to him but all he wanted to talk about was Daniel. I touched his hand, and he just lost it."

Morgan kept his mouth shut. Hotch was going to keep talking, and this is what he needed. He needed someone who would be willing to listen, and since Reid wasn't ready yet, Morgan would be there for him.

"The last time I saw him we were in that freezer," Hotch said looking away. "All of us were in there except for Daniel, and they gave me two options. They said that I would have to rape Reid or they would kill him. That was it. Reid was barely awake, and that's what they made me do. They wouldn't even take off his handcuffs, and he was so cold. It was freezing in that room and they kept threatening me that if I didn't do what they asked, Reid would be dead. He didn't even try to fight me. I hurt him, and I'm never going to be able to take it back."

"Reid knew what was going on," Morgan said. "He heard what they were saying, and he knew you were saving his life. If he hated you so much, he never would have come in your room. I can't see him visiting any member of that family."

"He would visit Daniel," Hotch replied. "He didn't seem to realize that Daniel would have killed him just like his parents and brother would have."

"He hasn't been himself lately. Things will start making better sense to him once he's had more sleep, but what about you? Whenever I see you, all you want to talk about is Reid but you were locked up too."

"I can handle it though," Hotch said quickly. "I don't think Reid can. He barely got through what happened with Henkel, and even then he developed a drug problem. I'm the one who did this to him. If I got him out of here when those bastards started calling him by name, he'd be downstairs having coffee with you guys instead of in a hospital room."

"Reid is stubborn. You know that," Morgan said. "You couldn't have kept him away if you tried."

"That isn't an excuse for what I did," Hotch said. "I let all of this happen to him, and you can't tell me that he is ever going to be the same again. I still have nightmares from that damned place, and I wasn't raped. I wasn't raped by the one person there who could protect me. His skin felt like ice, and he just laid there. I wanted him to fight me, but he didn't. That was the last time I saw him in that house. Daniel came…He had this bucket of ice, and he threw it all over us. I got out of the way right before it came down. Reid screamed."

Morgan cringed. He didn't like thinking of anything that Hotch was describing because it wasn't just random victim from a file. This was Reid. This was the kid that for the first time since Morgan met him wasn't wearing mismatched socks. He never thought he would miss the crazy socks, but the kid needed them back on his feet.

"What happened after Reid left?" Morgan asked, yearning to be on another subject other than pretty boy screaming.

Hotch thought for a moment. Morgan tried not to stare at the cuts and bruises all over the chief leader's face, but it was impossible not to. He had never seen Hotch like this before.

"They wanted me to do it again because we got interrupted. I tried so hard to keep him safe," Hotch said. His voice was cracking. "I tried protecting him. I just couldn't. They were going to kill him but someone came in…Joseph maybe…and said that you guys were finally coming for us. They wanted to separate us, and Daniel took Reid. That was the last time I saw him. The next thing I remember is waking up next to Joseph."

"Hotch…"

"I kept thinking he was dead. The last time someone was alone with Daniel, they were killed."

Hotch didn't look like himself, and he didn't sound like himself. Morgan needed to get them both out of there. The further away they were from that town, the better. Hotch needed to see Jack again, and it would probably do wonders for Reid if he could be back in his apartment.

The phone buzzing in his pocket interrupted his thoughts. He looked up at Hotch, but the constant noise didn't seem to bother Hotch. He was suffering from ptsd. There was no doubt about it. Morgan was losing Hotch to the horrors in his mind. Everything that the team was afraid of really did happen. Hotch really did rape their youngest, and that alone was probably enough to drive both of them completely crazy.

"You can answer that," Hotch said. He was still staring off into space. Morgan wasn't sure if he wanted to know what Hotch was thinking about. Instead of pestering his hurting friend, he pulled his phone of out of his pocket and answered it without looking at the caller ID.

"Morgan."

"Hey Morgan," Rossi's voice came. "I just dropped Rickie off. I'm not a fan of his family. I didn't see any straight out abuse or anything, but there's something about them. They acted like they didn't care if Rickie came back or not. I didn't like it. I told him not to go to the station tomorrow. He shouldn't be around Laura."

"Yeah, I know," Morgan answered. He really didn't know what he was agreeing to though. He wasn't listening at all.

"Are you alright?"

"I'll be right back," Morgan whispered to Hotch, but Hotch didn't respond. Morgan walked out of the hallway, and found a bench near Hotch's room to sit on.

"It's not good over here," Morgan finally said.

"What happened?"

"When I was in the bathroom, Reid got out of his room and found Hotch. I don't know exactly what was said, but Reid found out about Daniel and then Hotch tried touching him, and he flipped out. I found him on the floor. He was shaking all over, and he tore open a whole bunch of his stitches. The doctor is working on that right now."

"How did he get to the room without anyone noticing him? It's not like the hospital is over crowded with patients or anything."

"The doctor didn't see any harm in it," Morgan said. He was getting frustrated. "Hotch really did…rape Reid." His voice was just above a whisper. He didn't think anybody was listening in on his conversation, but he didn't like to even talk about it. He wasn't planning on telling the team everything that Hotch said, but they needed to know this.

"He told you?"

"He gave me details," Morgan said. "I don't know what to do. It really isn't a good idea for them to see each other for a while. It isn't going to help Hotch or Reid. The doctor is going to make sure that Reid doesn't go walking around anymore, but they need to be home."

"When did the doctors say they could leave?"

"I don't know, but I'll find out. I'd like them out of here as soon as tomorrow, but that probably isn't going to happen. They don't see us here to convict that woman."

"I'll be there soon," Rossi said clicking off his line.

Morgan put his phone back in his pocket, and stood up to see if he could find Hotch's doctor. He had a bad feeling that Reid wasn't going to be able to leave yet. If his stitches broke open that easily, what kind of shape was he in to fly? Hotch couldn't walk yet, but other than his fragile emotional state, he seemed to be alright. All Morgan could do was hope for the best.

* * *

><p>Sheriff Bill woke up early the next morning without bothering his wife. He was grateful that his wife was willing to put up with the crap from the FBI and the Bates family. He knew a lot of women that wouldn't let him back in the house after a certain time, but not his woman. She would wait up for him all night if that's what it took. He didn't deserve her. He got dressed in the bathroom, and left the house before making any coffee. He would just pick some up on his way to the station. He was planning on getting the barn destroyed as quickly as he could, and if God be it, he would be calling Parker's family to let them know what happened.<p>

He got to the station in record's time, and was a bit disappointed to see the town reporter standing out front. Bill knew it would only be a matter of time before the nosy man showed up. Everyone knew about the murders going on, and the younger man was already asking the other officers questions. Bill managed to avoid him for a while, but he couldn't hide from him forever. Bill sipped out of his hot coffee, and pretended to be looking through files as he approached the front door.

"Sheriff, mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"I don't really have time right now," Bill said. "Have you talked to the officers yet or something? I have things to do."

"Duh," the young man said. "I talked to them a lot already, and they keep telling me to talk to you because you know more stuff. The people of this town have a right to know what's going on. There are rumors that over 100 people were killed. I know that's not real at all, but how many people are really dead?"

"Adam, I really don't have time," Bill said more firmly.

Adam lowered down the pen and paper he was holding, and stared at his red tennis shoes. He was somewhere is his mid-20s, and the idiot still acted like he was a teenager. He still wore baggy shoes, ugly tee shirts, and had some cartoon dog on his shoes. It was embarrassing. The kid was raised in this town, but he didn't act like it. Bill was waiting for Adam to venture out into the real world and get a job with an actual newspaper, but it just wasn't happening. Bill was getting sick of waiting.

"Why don't you try talking to the agents?" Bill asked. Bill was fairly certain that the FBI would have nothing to do with him, but at least Adam would be far away from the station.

"Fine sheriff," Adam said.

He pulled his black framed glasses back over his nose, but he didn't thank the sheriff for the advice. Bill was never fond of red heads. The bright red hair with the freckles and black glasses just wasn't working for Bill. Bill was pretty sure that the kid was only working as an intern with the newspaper though. Nobody could pay an idiot like this. Bill didn't even read the paper anymore. He didn't need some piece of paper to tell him what was going on. He knew the people of this town like the back of his hand, and if they needed to know something, he would be the one to tell them in one of the town meetings. They didn't need to find out through some dumb paper written by a teenager.

Adam put his hoodie over his head, and hurried off towards his bike. Bill didn't see Rickie's bike anywhere, but he could have just been running late. Bill wasn't going to pressure him about that until later though. Bill was going to have to schedule a town meeting soon though. There would be more people lingering around asking questions, and they did have a right to know that the killers were caught, and the surviving murderer would have to face the justice system. Bill opened the front door of the station, and got a blast of warm air in his face.

"Anything new?"

"Good morning sheriff," Jake said. "Um, Laura was up most of the night. Pretty sure she fell asleep around 4am or so. Been quiet since then. Adam got here just a few minutes before you did. Ed called here too. He wants to know what to do about the bodies."

"Did the agents call or Parker's family?"

"Um, the agents still want to stop by later today to see Laura. Haven't heard from Parker's family yet. Maybe they just think she is busy with school or something."

Bill poured a cup of water, and strolled over to where Laura was. She fell asleep on the floor next to the bed. Her mouth was wide open, and he was positive the strange smell in the room was coming from her. If she was a dog, they would have killed her long ago. He liked dogs better than most people though. If any living creature deserved death, it was her. He would aim the gun right at her rotting teeth if he got the chance.

"But um, the agents will probably be here in like an hour. I don't know how many are coming, but at least two of them. Are we goin destroy the barn today? Don't think we can get anymore evidence from it."

"Yeah, but we should have one last walk around it just to make sure," Bill said. "But we don't need it to give this witch the death penalty."

He threw the cold water through the bars and it landed right on her face. He didn't get the terrified reaction he was looking for, but she did jerk up. It only took a second to register what was going on, and she tried spitting on his face. It didn't get very far, but Bill smiled at the pathetic attempt.

"Wake up princess," Bill said smiling. "You got visitors coming soon so you're goin wanna look your best. Thought the water would help ya wash that wild hair of yours. I thought I saw a rat running through it a few minutes ago."

"Go to hell!" she screamed.

"I'd rather not," Bill said pleasantly. "Jake, would you be willing to go the hospital later today? I'd like a witness there when I will meet the wounded agents."

"Sure, Dave will be here," Jake said. "But why are you going there?"

"Just to see for myself what happened. I didn't find them at the scene, and I didn't speak to any of the doctors so before I file my own report, I want to see them."

"Sounds good sheriff," Jake answered.

"We'll leave after the agents get here. It would be better if they weren't hanging around eavesdropping. I'm sure they do a lot, but they're not doin that with me. Just never liked city folk acting like they are better than us. Ya know?"

"I hear ya."

"After I do my own little evaluation, I'll send them on their merry little way. Laura will probably get the death penalty, and then we get our peaceful town back."

Bill sat down at his desk, and put his feet up while the coffee was making. He would stay with the agents for a second to make sure they weren't going to say stupidity to Laura, but he would go the hospital to see the only survivors of the Bates family. Why was it that they lived through that, but not one other person did? There were tons of bodies in the forest. What made Agent Hotchner and Agent Reid so special? Why did they live when so many others had to die?

* * *

><p>None of them went back to the hotel that night. They just couldn't after what Morgan told them. J.J. just couldn't believe her ears. Everything was going so perfectly, and all of that was gone in an instant. Reid knew about Daniel, and while Hotch didn't injure himself any further like Reid did, he was going to need a lot of counseling and soon. J.J. and Garcia stayed in Reid's room all night while the others slept with Hotch. J.J. didn't mean to fall asleep, but the next thing she remembered after going into his room was waking up to a nurse checking up on Reid.<p>

Garcia was still sleeping on the big arm chair by the window, but the nurse was being quiet. J.J. brushed the hair out of her face, and tried to act like she just hadn't been sleeping. The nurse checked over Reid's stitches, wrote down his vitals, and just walked out. Reid didn't have a good night. He never woke up, but his nightmares were enough to keep J.J. from getting a restful night's sleep. She rubbed her eyes, and stood up. Reid was finally sleeping without moving around, but he looked exhausted. How were any of them going to get past this?

She snuck out into the hallway. She wanted to go with them when they talked to Laura. She wanted to look into the eyes of the woman that tried to brutally murder two of her closest friends. J.J. had nothing to say to her. She just wanted to look. She would let Morgan and Rossi do all of the talking. Garcia would probably want to stay behind. The nurses were going to be with Reid all day, but Garcia didn't want to leave him alone. J.J. had a feeling that Garcia blamed herself for what happened. She didn't know how that was even possible, but that's how Garcia was acting. This was tearing all of them apart. Morgan needed to know about her. He wouldn't approve. None of them could be blamed for what happened.

"Can't sleep?"

J.J. looked up from her thoughts to see Morgan coming down the hallway with two coffees in his hands. He handed her one, and she drank it without thinking twice.

"I was thinking it would be Prentiss out here next," Morgan said with a soft smile.

"Sorry I beat her to it."

"How was Reid? Did he keep you guys up?"

"Garcia seems to be sleeping just fine," J.J. said glancing back at Reid's room. "I don't remember falling asleep. I think it took a while. Reid is still having nightmares. How was Hotch?"

"Same. Nightmares. He was moving around all night. He didn't want to talk to any of us though, and we didn't pressure him into it. I think if he knew where we were going today, I wouldn't be able to get him to shut up. Are we all going to see her?"

"I don't think Garcia wants to, but I'm coming," J.J. said.

"Do you think we'll be able to get her to say anything new or mention something about that camera? I'm betting you that she didn't actually kill anybody. She helped, but my gut is telling me that she never deserved a fatal blow in her life."

"Well, I'm not going to do any talking. I'll leave that to you guys. She's probably going to take the news of Daniel's death better than Reid did. She might not have been a murderer, but I'm sure she knew all about those welts on her sons backs."

"Already planning the party without me?" Rossi asked.

Rossi was rounding the corner to where they were sitting, and while he probably looked better than J.J. and Morgan combined, there was no doubt in her mind that he was worn out. He wore black bags under his eyes, and she was certain that she had never seen him wear such wrinkly clothes before. She tried not to imagine what she had to look like.

The ride to the police station was quiet. J.J. rode with Rossi while the others took a separate vehicle. In case they needed to get somewhere fast, it would be easier without trying to squeeze into one car in a timely manner. Rossi tried to keep up conversation, but J.J. just wanted this case to be over. She wanted to home, and pretend it never happened. She would wake up warm in her bed, and not be too anxious to tell the team about this crazy nightmare she had, but this wasn't a nightmare. This was real, and no matter what she did, she couldn't reverse the past.

The sheriff was outside waiting for them after they parked their cars in front of the station. J.J. made sure her jacket was zipped up, but she still felt cold. The sun had yet to rise, and while it wasn't snowing, J.J. always froze in the morning during winter.

"Mornin folks," Sheriff Bill said as he reached out his hand to shake with Morgan. "Sleep good?"

"As good as you would expect," Prentiss said.

"Well, Bates is here. She is awake, but I'm not so sure how much you're going to get out of her. She has a tendency to spit on people, and she is pretty aggressive towards my officers."

"Sure we can handle her," Morgan told him.

They followed the sheriff into the station, and while it was much warmer in there, J.J. didn't like it much. It wasn't as roomy as most of the police stations she was used, and judging by the empty bags of potato chips on the desks, they were too lax here. Two policemen were silently watching J.J. and the others go into the hallway where the cells were. She remembered seeing the same men the night they found the Bates house, but it was odd that they never did a single word to her. She assumed that night was hectic for all of them, but that wasn't the reason. It was obvious that the sheriff didn't like outsiders, and that was probably the same opinion of everyone living in that town.

"I'm going back to the barn this morning," Bill announced. "Got one more thing I need to find, and then that hell hole is gettin torn down. Don't need any memories like that in my town."

"What were you looking for sheriff?" Rossi asked.

The sheriff stopped walking. It looked like he was debating whether or not to even tell them. J.J. couldn't figure out why it would be such a big secret. They were in this together.

"We found a camera the other day," Bill finally said. His voice was low. "It was in one of the boys' rooms, but it didn't belong to him. There was a name on the back that said Kate Parker so that woman gave one of those kids a camera. I think that was terribly inappropriate for a teacher to loan a camera to a student, but I'm not from one of those fancy dancy cities. I don't know what you people do out there, but if I knew about what she was doing, I would have gotten that woman canned."

"It wasn't her fault for what happened," J.J. said firmly. "She was a victim, and I'm sure she was trying to help."

"Yeah, well, I'm goin find those pictures from that camera. Already looked all over her place. She didn't even mention it in her diary. One of my guys was actually thinkin that she had naked pictures of herself with it, but I don't think that. I'm just not as trusting of strangers as you all are so don't go around telling me that you think she gave a disturbed kid a camera because she wanted to help him."

"Don't go making accusations sheriff," Morgan said. "The only one guilty of anything is the woman behind the bars, and the family she once had."

J.J. was glad that Morgan wasn't mentioning the photos. The sheriff would find out eventually, but it wouldn't hurt to make him wait a little while longer. If Hotch and Reid liked the teacher, so did she. Their approval was all she needed. J.J. never liked to talk bad about the dead. It just wasn't in her nature to bring negativity to somebody who couldn't defend themselves.

"You're right, you're right," Bill said raising up his arms in a surrender. "Just wanted to let you know where I'll be. Bringing one of the officers with me, but you guys should be just fine with Dave. How long do you think you'll be?"

"Depends on how much she is willing to tell us," Morgan said.

"Have fun with her then," Bill said. "She is the only one back here right now. Let the town drunk go right before she came in. If you need anything, just call. I don't recommend going in the cell with her, but you guys are the professionals so do what y'all think it right."

The sheriff pointed which cell was hers, and then he went back to the main room. J.J. heard muffled talking between Bill and one of the officers, but she didn't care what they were saying. She trailed behind the others, but they stopped at the first cell.

"Heard you all talkin about me," a female voice said coming from behind the bars.

"How are you feeling Laura?" Morgan asked.

_so i hope u guys liked the chapter. wasnt exiciting as some of the other ones but A LOT is going to happen in the next chapter which im looking forward 2 writing. and the sheriff isnt really beyond evil or crazy...he just really hates people who rnt from his town. or who r different. so hes more of a jerk than evil. but hes fun to write anyhow so im glad my brain found him haha. plzzzzz review! pweez pweez pweez! my muse likes review and all of us must keep her happy. her name is ciara and i might have gotten that name from the muse in xanadu_


	30. Chapter 30

_so im pretty proud of myself for getting the next chapter up this quickly. i thought i owed it 2 u guys for being such AWSUM readers. got a nice 16 pages here for this chapter. theres A LOT of cursing in this chapter. u can thank laura for that. i dont think its too graphic when compared 2 other chapters but to each his own. story is almost over tho. i can feel it and it makes me sad. but enjoy!_

Sheriff Bill really was planning on going to the barn that day, but it wouldn't be until later. If he wanted to see the men in the hospital, he only had a limited amount of time on his hands. He felt bad for having to miss Bates spitting at all those smart ass agents, but Dave would tell him all about it later. He waited for Jake to get into the car with him, and then he sped off. It wasn't snowing, but that didn't make driving any easier. Even for someone as experienced as he was, these roads were still a death trap waiting to happen. He had his seat belt fastened around him, and he drove slower than he would have liked to.

The hospital wasn't that close by, but once he got on the freeway, all he needed to do was turn on his lights and speed the rest of the way. What was he going to find when he got there? He already saw what the Bates family did to their victims. Ed told him all about the conditions the bodies were in, and Laura never once tried to defend her actions since she was arrested. Why was it so hard for him to understand that all of this happened in his town? When he took the job, he vowed to keep the people safe. Where did he go wrong?

He pulled in front of the hospital, but didn't bother parking properly in the slot. No one would dare complain to him. He crunched his way through the snow, and didn't bother waiting for the deputy to keep up. The waiting room was completely empty, but it was a weekday and people tended to want to go to hospitals on the weekend. He walked up to the nurse's station, and impatiently waited because there wasn't a cute nurse already there. He dung the bell several times, and looked the other way when an older woman came out from the back.

"Can I help you gentlemen? Sheriff?"

"Yes, do you know anything about the FBI agents that are here?" Bill asked her.

"Hold on," she said. She went back into the other room, and left Bill and Jake standing there.

"Wonder what she's doin," Jake commented. "Not like she doesn't know what room they are in. Nobody else is here."

"Maybe she just got it or something," Bill said.

Jake sat down in one of the chairs as the minutes went go, but Bill wasn't going to get himself all comfortable to have to get right back up when the lady came back. Besides, he was in a hurry. If she didn't come back soon, he was just goin find out where the agents were himself. All he needed was their damned statement. Why was everything so hard?

"Hello officers," a doctor said coming through two doors on the other side of the room.

"Sheriff," Bill corrected him. "Sheriff Bill."

"My name is Dylan Gable, and I'm looking after one of the agents," Gable said extending his hand. Bill hated shaking hands. He was always paranoid of spreading germs, but he took Gable's hand. The doctor gave a firm shake. "I heard that you were asking about them?"

"Yes," Bill said. "Which one do you watch?"

"Doctor Spencer Reid," Gable answered.

"One of them is a doctor?" Jake asked. "Like you?"

"My understanding is that he has doctorates in other areas other than medicine. Is this helping you with your case somehow?" Gable asked.

"Actually, doctor, I'm going to need to speak with both of the agents," Bill said coming forward. He wasn't going to take no as an answer.

Gable stood his ground. In fact, he didn't seem worried at all with the sheriff of the town closing in on him. He looked Bill right in the eye, but didn't back up.

"Neither one of them are well enough for visitors. They had a rough night, and I can tell you from personal experience that my patient is not up for an interview with the sheriff."

Bill turned around, and nodded his head at Jake. Jake made his way past him, and put one of his arms over the doctor's.

"Stay back sir," Jake said.

"I need to talk to them while the event is still fresh in their minds," Bill said. "What rooms are they in? If you don't tell me, I'm sure one of the nurses upstairs can."

"I'm not telling you," Gable said firmly. "You need to leave now."

Bill shrugged, and walked right past him. He wasn't going to let some stupid doctor stop him from seeing those men. He found the elevators easy enough, and as long as Jake kept the doctor proper company, everything should go smoothly. He picked the second floor, and was pleased to find that the hospital was quiet on that level. He was looking at the rooms when he found a nurse walking by.

"Ma'am, what rooms are the agents in? I'm the sheriff around here, and I have a few things I need to ask them."

"Well, one of them is right over there. See the balloons? Agent Hotchner is right around the corner that way. It's impossible not to find them with all the stuff by their doors."

"Thank you," he said heading to the nearest room. The balloons were a dead giveaway.

Bill cleared his throat, and pushed the doors open. A nurse was sitting there, and she looked shocked that someone else was there. She stood up, but he held his hand up to keep her quiet. She bit her lip, and hurried past him. She was probably going to find the agent's doctor. That would be a laugh.

He barged in almost expecting to see the agent laughing at the television, but that wasn't what he found. He saw the agent who could still pass as a college kid, fast asleep on the bed. Bruises and cuts were all over his face, and he had one black eye that still looked extremely painful to the touch. His hair was messed up over his face, and Bill could just see his eyes moving underneath their lids. If he was dreaming, it wasn't anything good. There were flowers and cards all over the room, but it didn't look like the kid had seen any of them. Bill thought about waking him up. This was probably the only chance he would get to speak with Agent Reid alone, but he just couldn't do it. The kid's lips were badly chapped, he had white bandages covering up his wrists, and he just couldn't stop moving his head from side to side during some dream he was having.

As much as he wanted to, Bill couldn't ask the kid anything. Bill laid one of his hands on top of Reid's for a moment, hoping that maybe his touch would calm down the kid's vivid dreams, and while it didn't help much, Bill couldn't do anymore. He would have to find that nurse and tell her that the agent needed stronger medication or something. The poor boy's mouth was hanging open so it was only a matter of time before he started shouting or something in his dreams. Bill had to admit that whatever happened to this kid wasn't good. He looked on the tables for a medical chart or something where he could see what exactly this boy had to go through, but he guessed the doctors wouldn't be leaving something like that around. He did remember what Ed told him about the other victims about how all of them were tortured and raped before they were murdered. Had this kid been raped too?

He would have to ask that doctor about what exactly happened to this kid. Even if this boy was awake and alert, Bill didn't think he would have the heart to bring up the source of his nightmares. Before he left, he pulled out his cell phone and took a few photos of the sleeping agent. In case anyone questioned why he didn't talk to Agent Reid, all he would have to do is show them the photos and they would shut up. He just took a few photos showing off the injuries around the troubled face, and put his phone back. He would probably show the pictures to his wife later that night. It wasn't every day that they could see something like this. He slipped the phone back in his pocket, and slowly walked out of the room. His boots were heavy, and they would probably wake the poor guy up if he went around stomping like he usually did. Bill turned around when he was at the door to make sure the boy was still sleeping, and once Bill was confident that he was, Bill turned the corner in search of the other agent's room.

* * *

><p>Rickie woke up before anyone else did in the house that morning. He knew that Rossi didn't want him working at the station, but that didn't mean that he couldn't just go by there to see how things were going. Besides, he wanted his bike back. He threw Morgan's jacket over his shirt, and snuck outside without even using the bathroom. He didn't want to risk being heard. It was colder than hell out there, but walking would warm him up. He would grab a candy bar somewhere for his breakfast, but he really wanted to help. He was finally feeling like he could make a difference, and he couldn't let that opportunity just slip away.<p>

It would be overcast that day. The sun wasn't up yet, but Rickie could just tell by the way the air felt around him. He kept his hands in the pockets of the jacket, and wished that he would be able to keep it. He was sure that Morgan wouldn't notice if Rickie never gave it back, but he wasn't that kind of guy. If he borrowed something, he would return it. He lived with a family once that kept accusing him of stealing. Whenever something went missing, it was automatically his fault, and after spending only a month there, he was back in the system. He wasn't a thief.

It wasn't that short of a walk, but he got there without falling over from exhaustion. There was snow on his bike, but it wasn't anything that a quick brush off wouldn't fix. He pulled his bike behind a tree, and started brushing it off with a stick when the sheriff's car drove up. The sheriff parked only a few feet away from Rickie, but didn't notice him at all. Rickie could see him being stopped by some teenager, but Sheriff Bill didn't stay out in the snow for too long. Rickie pulled his bike out further into the trees so he wouldn't be spotted by anyone else, and he was happy for his last minute decision when two black SUVs came by. They parked next to the sheriff's car, and Rickie recognized them as belonging to the agents. Rickie held his breath as they went into the station, but he knew that they weren't going to see him. They weren't going to be looking for someone that they weren't expecting.

Rickie didn't know how long he was planning on staying out there. It wasn't as cold as it was yesterday, but it was still cold and he felt like he was wasting time. What were they doing there? Talking to Laura? He was sure that he could get Laura to tell him things that she wouldn't tell the agents or cops. She probably considered him more trust worthy because of his impressionable age and his disability, but he wasn't stupid like she thought he was. If they needed his help, he was going to be there. He liked to feel wanted. He was just about to go in and offer his assistance when the sheriff walked out with one of the deputies. Jake maybe? None of them bothered telling him their names. They probably did when he first started working there, but it was an easy thing to forget and when they never bothered talking to him, he just forgot.

He kept himself hidden until the car pulled out of the parking lot. He looked back at the SUVs, but he decided to follow Bill. They weren't going to need him for a while. He jumped on his bike, and peddled as fast as he could to keep up. He didn't know where they were going, but he was going to find out. He kept Agent Morgan's card in his pocket, but he wasn't afraid of it falling out or anything. The agent didn't give him the card on his own. It was left in the jacket when Rickie borrowed it, and Rickie found it after he got home. The sheriff wasn't driving that fast and for the first time in his life, Rickie was grateful for the heavy snow. When Bill got on the freeway, Rickie finally got an idea of where they were going. The sheriff rarely left the town. It was home, and he could walk around with his chest sticking out like a proud turkey. He liked being in charge. The only reason for him to leave his chicken coop was to go to the hospital, and that's where the other agents were healing.

Rickie took a back road to the hospital, and while it would take a little bit longer than a car on the freeway, it would give him time to hide his bike. He stayed off the roads, and dodged around the trees like a pro. He couldn't wait to get out of the town, but he would miss the forest. He didn't have to hear a single sound that the woods made to appreciate their beauty. He swerved around the little stones, and while he did make it to the hospital in good time, it still felt like forever to him. He legs were sore from pedaling so fast, and his stomach was growling because he never bought that stupid candy bar he told himself he would. He hid his bike behind the hospital dumpster, and he found the sheriff's car parked out front. He looked both ways, and crossed the street. Why would Bill be at the hospital? Wouldn't he want to be back with the agents when they were talking to Laura? That didn't seem like something he would want to miss.

Rickie shook the snow off his tennis shoes, and went inside. He thought the waiting room was empty at first. He didn't see anyone at the nurse station, and there weren't any patients sitting in their chairs. It reminded me him of a scary movie he saw once. Abandoned hospitals were not on his immediate list of places to visit, especially not by himself. That's when he saw Jake sitting with what looked like a doctor in the back corner. If Jake recognized him, that would blow his whole idea. He wrapped himself deeper into the black jacket, and stood by the sign in sheet to look like he was ill and waiting for assistance. He dung on the bell, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see the doctor arguing with Jake. What could possibly be the matter? Rickie took the pad of paper out of his pocket, and started scribbling away just as the doctor gave over.

When the doctor finally got there, he looked extremely nervous. He kept looking over his shoulder, and if Rickie really was sick, he would be pissed off for not getting his full attention, but something was going on. Rickie made sure that Jake couldn't see him, and then he handed the torn sheet of paper to the doctor.

_Is the sheriff with the sick agents?_

The doctor looked behind his back, but quickly turned back to Rickie.

"How do you know?" he whispered. "The sheriff is up there right now, and I don't know what he's doing. I told him that neither one of them are well enough to speak with him, and they aren't. One just had a panic attack last night. If he wants statements about their injuries, he should have spoken to me!"

_Is jake not letting u upstairs?_

"The nice gentleman right over there? He has been watching my every move. I can't even use the bathroom without him standing behind me. Who are you? Are you, are you deaf?"

_Yes. I can read lips. My name is rickie. Do u have a phone I can use that has texting? Im friends with the other fbi agents that are here and they can help. _

The doctor didn't look too anxious to tell Rickie the whereabouts of his phone, but he let out a sigh of resignation. He put his arm over Rickie's shoulder, and leaned in closely so Rickie could see his lips moving. He looked like a nervous wreck.

"I keep my phone is the first room to the right behind these two doors. I'll type in the password to get the doors to open. I'm just going to tell Mister Jake that I sent you back to the nurses. Please get them here soon. The sheriff has been upstairs way too long, and I'm getting worried."

Rickie nodded, and stood back while the doors opened. Rickie kept his head down while he walked back, and saw the kind doctor going back to Jake. Jake probably loved every minute of this. He was the big guy now, and his sole purpose in life was to guard some poor doctor. Rickie found the room easily, and was thrilled to see the phone was sitting on the desk. He sat down, pulled out Morgan's card, and started texting right away.

_It's rickie. Im here at the hospital where your friends are and the sheriff is here too. He is with them right now and he isn't lettin the doctor in. _

Rickie sat the phone back down on the desk, and wondered how long it would be before he got a response. It needed to be soon. If they were talking to Laura, did that mean they had to leave their phones somewhere else so they wouldn't be disturbed? That didn't make sense. What if there was an emergency?

_Please hurry. Doctor is upset. This is his phone. Ill b waiting outside hospital._

Rickie, confident that he said what needed to be said, put the card back in his hospital and wandered into the hallway. He couldn't leave the same way he came. There had to be another way out without running into the sheriff. None of this looked the same as it did when he was there with the agents. It couldn't be that easy. He chose a random hallway, and decided that his path would be a series of left turns until he ran into a nurse or found the exit.

* * *

><p>Prentiss could smell the despicable woman from outside. She was sure that the Bates had a shower at their house. Unless they didn't have any form of water, there was no excuse why the woman couldn't bathe herself. She didn't think she would be able to stand being in a cell with her for more than a minute. How could the officers working here just pretend that the horrid stench wasn't there? She held a tissue up to her nose while Morgan looked around.<p>

"Hey, officer?" Morgan called out. "You have a conference room or something we can use?"

"Sure thing agent," the cop called out.

He fumbled with the keys in his pocket, and awkwardly gave them over to Morgan.

"First key is to her handcuffs, and that one there," he said pointing to a copper looking one, "is for her cell. Conference room is right down there on your left. Can't miss it."

Rossi and J.J. went down to the conference room. Prentiss stayed behind in case Morgan needed any help with this woman. Prentiss had only seen her once before, but from what the sheriff was saying, she was dangerous and unpredictable. She kept her hand by her gun while Morgan unlocked the gate.

"How ya doin handsome?" Laura asked.

From what Prentiss could see, the woman was sitting on the floor beside the bed. Her dress was pulled up to her knees, she wasn't wearing any shoes, and the pink sweater she had on certainly wasn't her size. The teeth that she still had was marked with brown and black stains, but she looked healthy. Her face wasn't all cut up like someone who just came from a shooting, and while she was overweight, she wasn't obese. As Prentiss looked closer, she was disgusting to see the woman was sitting in a puddle of her own urine. There was a working toilet right next to her. Why would she choose to pee on the floor?

"You remember me?" Morgan asked with a smile.

"How could I forget you? You were the asshole that shot my husband!"

"All is fair in love and war princess," Morgan answered never missing a beat. "If you are interested in a trade, I would love to have a little talk with you."

"I would rather be shot dead in the street than talk with the likes of you."

"Don't you want to know where they are keeping your boys? Your husband? I know you've been asking about them, and I know where they are. You talk to me, and I'll tell you."

Laura sat down on her knees, and scooted towards him. Prentiss took a step back. She wasn't afraid of the woman at all, but she didn't want to get spit on. She had a bad feeling that Laura didn't like women too well. She titled her head like she was trying to figure out if Morgan was full of it or not.

"How do you I know if you lyin or not?"

"I'll tell you where your husband is first. Then you tell me what I want to know, and then you will find out your boys are. Deal?"

She looked closer at Morgan, and ran her tongue over her lips. It was disgusting. Was she checking him out? Prentiss couldn't explain herself, but she always thought the Bates family was beyond racist, but she could have been wrong. She put her hand back on her gun, and was prepared in case Laura pounced on Morgan when she was unleashed from her cage.

"Okie dokie," Laura said.

"Okay, I'm going to unlock your cell," Morgan said. "I won't put the handcuffs on you because the conference room is right over there, but don't try anything funny."

"I ain't no comedian," Laura said.

She got on her feet, and pushed herself off the floor. Prentiss noticed that the woman hadn't shaved her legs in a while. Prentiss got her gun out of its holster, and backed up. Morgan would lead the way because he was closer, but this crazy lady wasn't going to pull anything with Prentiss around. Morgan unlocked the cell, and took a step back. Laura looked both ways, but there wasn't any way she could run. Realizing she couldn't go anywhere, she did get behind Morgan. The room was only a few steps away so their guard wasn't that high, but Laura did try to bolt. She fell on her knees, and tried dodging around Prentiss on the floor. Prentiss bent over, and grabbed the woman by her hair to stop her. Laura screamed, and Morgan pulled her back up.

"Where did you think you were going?" Morgan asked.

"Meeting with the crazy cat lady down the street," Laura said calmly. "Guess its next week."

Morgan stood back with Prentiss to let Laura walk first. There was no place ahead she could run to. Rossi was already out by the door. Laura looked back at Prentiss again, probably still hoping she could run away, but that wasn't happening. She fell on her knees for a second time, but she didn't do anything. She just laid there until Rossi helped her back up. That's when she spat on him. Rossi didn't seem to mind, but he did shove her into the conference room. He grabbed a hankie from his pocket to wash the spit off his face.

"Where's J.J.?" Morgan asked once Laura was in the room.

"She's on the other side looking in," Rossi said motioning to the next door. "She didn't want to talk to Laura, and I can't blame her. I could smell her from outside."

"I guess I'll go in first," Prentiss offered. "I'll tell her about Benjamin, and then you guys can get the information from her. She would probably be more willing to talk to you guys that me. I'm pretty sure she doesn't like women."

Prentiss went into the room, and shut the door behind her. Laura wasn't sitting by the table. She wasn't even sitting on the chair. She chose a corner in the room, and was sitting with her dress up and her knees by her chest. It was unflattering. Prentiss sat down on the chair. She would rather not talk about death standing up, even if it was the death of people who deserved it.

"Mrs. Bates, why are you on the floor?"

"Don't smell like you cops down here. Where's Benjamin?"

Prentiss cleared her throat.

"Do you remember when all of us were in your front yard? There was shooting, and your husband got shot twice."

"How could I forget that you pig?"

"He never woke up," Prentiss said calmly.

"What are you trying to say?" Laura got back on her knees, and scooted forward. "What are you saying you pig?"

"Your husband is dead," Prentiss said. She tried to ignore the stinky woman crawling towards her. "His body is currently sitting unclaimed in the morgue. If you never get out of prison, his body will go to the state."

"Benjamin is dead? You're lying!" she shouted. Laura lunged into the hair, and jumped on Prentiss.

Prentiss was preparing for Laura to do something like that, but not actually push her out of the chair. Laura managed to get Prentiss out of her chair, and was on top of her trying to rip out her hair before Morgan got in there. Prentiss was kicking her knee, trying to get the psycho off of her, but Laura just wouldn't budge. She was screaming.

"You liar! You never lie about something like that! Benjamin is alive!"

It took a lot of energy for Morgan to get her off Prentiss. The woman was stronger than she let on, and even with Morgan holding her back, she was still trying to attack. She was actually growling, and when she figured out that she wasn't getting anywhere, she spat at Prentiss. Her aim missed, but she wasn't calming down.

"Keep your end of the deal!" Morgan shouted. "Stop fighting. Your husband is dead, and none of us can take that back. I need to talk to you now."

When it looked like she was finally settling herself down, Morgan released her and she charged at Prentiss again, but Prentiss was prepared. She wasn't going to put up with a psychopath. Prentiss spit right back at Laura, and that stopped the older woman in her tracks because Prentiss didn't miss. Laura looked up at her while Morgan put her handcuffs on. He plopped her in the chair, and attached her to one of the arms so she wouldn't be able to go anywhere. Morgan sat down across from her with his chair turned backwards.

"You are going to talk to me," Morgan said looking her in the eye. "You are going to tell me everything I want to know if you want to hear what happened to your boys. Who was is that caused the car accident with our agents?"

"You mean Hollywood and virgin? Oh wait, he's not a virgin no more."

How hard was it to keep Morgan from killing that woman then and there? Prentiss was getting ready to kill her too. Prentiss knew there was nothing she could do that night to protect Hotch or Reid. She was unconscious, and her arm was broken, but that didn't stop her mind from trying to blame her. She kept telling herself that she could have gotten up and done something. They should have taken her instead. That's what she wanted. She would have given up anything to take their places. The monster sitting in the chair though was the real cause of all their pain and agony. She was the reason that Prentiss almost lost two of her closest friends.

* * *

><p>Hotch was awake when the rest of the team left for the sheriff's station. He pretended to be fast asleep because it was early and he didn't want to worry them, but he did want to go too. He wanted to confront Laura again, and he wanted to be the one to tell her that her entire family was decaying in the forest somewhere. That wasn't true for the most part, but she deserved to hear that. Hotch slept for the first time last night, and while it wasn't through the whole night, he felt well rested and ready to go. His doctor hadn't been in to check on him yet which was a good thing. He couldn't control how he acted around them. Some of his own actions surprised him, and he didn't like that. He was sure that his behavior had something to do with what he had been through, but he didn't like excuses. He just wanted to be himself again.<p>

"I see you moving around under those sheets," Garcia said quietly. "You awake yet or are you going to pretend sleep a little while longer?"

"You should have been a profiler," Hotch said smiling. He lifted himself into a sitting position, and rolled his neck. "What time did you wake up?"

"When everyone else started moving around and told each other to be quiet loudly by your door," Garcia said. "Did you sleep at all?"

"A little. Hows…"

"He's sleeping," Garcia said before he could answer. She knew him too well.

"Okay, good," Hotch said. He wanted to see Reid again. He really did, but he didn't think he would be able to handle another panic attack. He just couldn't. He would never do anything to hurt Reid, and he was sure the kid knew that, but it still killed him inside. He didn't want to hurt Reid, but he did and the humiliation from that would never go away. The pain wouldn't stop.

"I heard that Emily and Morgan are going to talk to your doctor later today to see when you are well enough to go back home. Nobody likes hospitals."

"I want to go to Kate's funeral," Hotch said. Nobody what anyone told him, he would always feel responsible for her death. It was his fault.

"I don't know when that is, and I don't think you're well enough to go back out into the cold yet," Garcia argued.

"I was one of the last people she saw," Hotch said.

"Oh, but um," Garcia said perking up. "I didn't know if you knew that Kate had a dog but she did, and…they found the dog's body and I didn't let them throw him out. I kept thinking that that you guys were goin…I thought she was going to come back with you and she would want to bury her doggie. His name was Bruno. It was on his nametag, and she had lots of pictures of him on her computer."

"Do her parents know? They might want the body," Hotch said.

"I don't think so. Nobody asked me about it. I don't think the others even know that I wouldn't let them get rid of poor Bruno's body."

"Let me call them," Hotch said suddenly. He was sure that they want to know the fate of their daughter's beloved dog. "I'm sure they're wondering what happened to him."

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Garcia said slowly.

"You told me yourself how much she loved that dog. You don't think her family has a right to know? What if they want to bury it with her?"

Garcia didn't look convinced, but she looked up their home phone number and handed it over to Hotch. His heart was pounding, but he felt like he was working again. That feeling was wonderful. The phone only rang twice before a woman answered.

"Hello?"

The woman didn't sound like Kate at all, but Hotch felt stupid for thinking that she would. How many people talk like their children?

"Is this Mrs. Parker?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"This is Aaron Hotchner with the FBI. I was calling to tell you about your daughter's dog."

"My daughter's dog? Wait, you mean Kate? What's wrong with her dog?"

Hotch glanced at Garcia. Why were they asking what was wrong with the dog? Why weren't they asking where his body was found or if he was still alive? The woman on the phone acted like nothing was wrong.

"Ma'am, when was the last time you spoke with your daughter?"

"Um, at least a week ago. I know that she had some kind of tests coming up…finals or midterms or something. She was going to call me when all of that was over. Why?"

Hotch felt ill. He didn't know exactly how long it had been since Kate was brutally murdered in front of him, but why hadn't anyone told her parents? Were they still expecting her to visit them during Thanksgiving or come home for Christmas? How could they not know?

"Mrs. Parker," Hotch said after a brief pause. "Your daughter is dead. She was one of the last victims of the Bates family murders. I came out here to help with the case."

"What?" the woman asked. "What did you say?"

"I'm sorry," Hotch said softly. What else could he say?

Hotch was getting ready to tell her more when he heard a loud thump like something fell, and then a man got on the phone. What was going on over there?

"What did you tell Carla?"

"Is she…is she okay?" Hotch asked.

"What did you tell her? She's looking pale."

"Kate is dead. She was one of the victims of the Bates family, and I was calling to tell you that we also have her dog in case you wanted the body."

"She's dead? My baby girl is dead?"

"I'm sorry sir."

"Wait..wait…who did you say you were?" the man asked.

"I'm Agent Hotchner with the FBI. I was here investigating the murders, but the people who did it are in custody."

"Okay," the man said. He sounded shaken up and nervous. Hotch knew why. "Okay, we're coming over. We'll be on the next plane, and um, I need to call…Oh my God…Are you sure it's her? What if it is a case of mistaken identity or something?"

"She was wearing a little flower necklace, had a dog named Bruno," Hotch said trying to think of more things he could tell her father to prove it was her. "She had on a pink sweater when she went missing, and she liked handing out detentions."

"Oh my God," the man said again. We're on our way," he told Hotch. "I just need to call my other daughters and…a plane would be the fastest way over there and…I'll see you soon."

Hotch handed the phone back to Garcia after the call ended, and he laid his head on the pillow. He felt a headache coming on that he wasn't prepared for. How could Kate's family not know?

"That didn't sound good," Garcia said.

"Nobody told them what happened to her," Hotch said. "I'm pretty sure the mother fainted, and the father just couldn't believe what I was telling him. They are on their way over now. You should probably tell Morgan or Rossi so they can expect them. I think I need some water."

Garcia was on her feet getting his cup with the straw before he finished the sentence. She leaned over the bed, and helped him get a drink without ever touching him. He would never take Garcia for granted as long as he lived. She was more loyal to him than most of his own family members, and while she wasn't there with them physically on most of their cases, she was a team member that could never be replaced.

"Do you need me to call the doctor in here?"

"No, I just need to rest for a second. I'll be fine."

He closed his eyes to help get his pounding heart under control, and he focused on his breathing. He couldn't think about Kate right now or he would end up like Reid did on the floor. He didn't even want to think about what the team was doing with Laura so he focused his thoughts on the light wind outside. He could hear it through the windows, and he wondered when the last time he built a snowman was. He had no idea. It couldn't have been that long ago.

* * *

><p>Morgan wasn't afraid of the woman that was handcuffed to the chair in front of him, and he wasn't going to back away from her spitting mouth. He was going to find out what part this woman played in all of this if it killed him. He was prepared to spend all day there if it came to that. Unlike the others, he wasn't tired at all.<p>

"What happened when everyone was back at home?"

"We had a pleasant dinner, and then all of us went to bed and dreamed about Santa comin to visit us next month," Laura said staring him in the eye.

"Not my loss if you never see those boys again," Morgan said right back to her. He wasn't going to put up with her crap. If she wanted to play, he could play too.

"Fine asshole. We had dinner, pretty sure my dearest husband raped the shit out of Daniel's teacher, and then we went to bed."

"You gave them all beds?"

"After we took their clothes off, they slept in the freezer. None of us touched them agents till the next day and that was my husband when the kids were at school. He really liked virgin. They had a fun time in the shower. I could hear him screamin like a girl from the family room."

"And what were you doing?"

"Watchin TV. What else ya think I would be doing? Writing to my imaginary boyfriends online? Joke's on you. I don't got no computer!"

"Hilarious. What was happening to Agent Hotcher and Miss Parker while your husband was with Doctor Reid?" Morgan was going to keep their titles. He wasn't going to let this monster forget who she was dealing with. She was never going to forget any of their names.

"Playing scrabble in the freezer? Hell if I know. I tried to give them breakfast, but Hollywood was the only one that ate. Teacher kept puking and virgin wasn't hungry or somethin. Who in the right mind can't be hungry for breakfast? No wonder he's so damned skinny."

"So you never touched any of them yourself?"

"Well, my oldest son, handsome Joseph, played with the slutty teacher right before that stupid waste of time town meeting we were dragged to. And it might have been my idea for Hollywood and virgin to get it on. You should have seen it! I didn't think it would actually work, and it didn't take long at all for Hollywood to get down to business. Watchin all that kinda got me excited if you know what I mean. Hollywood is a big guy. How's he doin anyways? He still alive or did Joseph kill him?"

"After the town meeting, what happened? Did you have another fancy dinner?"

"You should have been there! I got this delicious pie for the best price. It was a little past the expiration date, but it tasted heavenly. Everyone enjoyed it. I think we ate most of it that very night."

"When did Miss Parker die?"

"Little slut tried runnin off. She didn't have no clothes off and it was colder than hell outside, and she still thought it was in her best interest to run off. The boys went lookin for her, and it was Daniel who found her."

"Was she already dead?"

"Nope. Killed her in front of us with a big bar thing. I was never good with names of stuff like that but there was lots of blood and Hollywood was puking. I think Benjamin was a little sad though. He didn't say much after that."

"Were you planning on killing them before we found you?"

"I wouldn't say planning exactly," Laura said running her tongue over her top lip. "We usually just play things by ear and we heard y'all were coming. Benjamin was goin hold you guys off while we hid Hollywood and virgin, but that didn't work out as you can see."

The more this woman talked, the more Morgan hated her. She was acting like this was some casual conversation between friends. He was confident that Laura didn't have a single real friend in her entire life. She was too unstable for a real relationship. The marriage she had with Benjamin was probably only superficial. She probably didn't even know when the man's birthday was. She was a psychopath for sure, but she knew what she did was wrong.

"Did you know Hollywood likes purple? The boxers he had on for a little while were a vibrant shade of violet, and I just loved it. Course, me bein a girl and all, pink will always be my favorite."

"Is that your sweater?" Morgan finally asked. It had been bugging him for a while. It was just too tight on her, and while it was dirty and looked worn out, she could never have been the same size it was.

"Course it is. Got it from slutty teacher myself. She don't need it no more. Her body is stiff as a rock, ain't it? We kept it in the freezer for a little bit before we dropped it off. Daniel really liked it, and I've never been able to firmly say no to my little guy."

Morgan heard Prentiss finally leave the room. Laura Bates was wearing a murdered woman's sweater. He didn't think he spoke with a single murderer who was wearing the clothing of the person they killed. It made his stomach turn. He couldn't spot any blood on it, but this woman needed to be shot in the head for even considering wearing it. Before he left, he was going to get that sweater back and make sure the family had it.

"Agent Hotchner, Hollywood, shot and killed Jospeh right before we got there. His body was found near that television you liked to watch so much and little Daniel was killed outside after he was refusing to listen to authorities. He died on the spot."

"What?" Laura asked after she leaned forward.

"Both of your sons are dead. Your husband is dead. You are the only one is left, and I can tell you right now that it's going to be a long time before you ever have rotten pumpkin pie," Morgan said leaning in so he was face to face with her. He didn't care what she would do. He felt his phone buzzing in his pocket, and he really needed to see what the message said.

Laura didn't do anything for a moment or two. She just stared at him. It was a lot of information for anyone to register, and this smelly woman wasn't exactly on the smart time, but when she finally understood, she reacted violently. She sat back in her chair, but then lunged at Morgan with full force. She actually got to a standing position with the chair swinging from behind her while she tried attacking Morgan. All he had to do was stand up to avoid her rage, but she started screaming. She tried to get the chair off her handcuff, and when that didn't work, she ran into the closest wall. The police officer from the front ran into the room to help get her under control.

Rossi stepped into the room, and went beside Morgan. Morgan didn't care one way or the other if Laura wanted to harm herself. She could run into walls all day long and it wouldn't concern him. The cop didn't even look like he knew what he was doing. He kept trying to pull her back, but she was stronger than he was. Morgan was afraid that he was going to have to go and help.

"Looks like she didn't take the news well," Rossi commented.

"Well, at least we told her in the morning than at night so she won't have any bad dreams," Morgan replied.

The officer got a strong hold on the chair she was attached to, but as he tried pulling it away from the wall, Laura resisted. Morgan was just waiting for the arm of the chair to break which would allow her to run around the room screaming like the lunatic she was. As amazing as that sounded, Morgan couldn't let that happen. Morgan would check on his phone right after he helped the failing officer. Morgan pulled the frantic woman away from the wall, and Rossi came up from behind her and secured her handcuffs around both of her wrists instead of the chair. The officer grabbed a hold on her, but she fought him like a rabid dog.

"Guess I'm going to help put Old Yellar back in her cage," Rossi said winking.

Morgan watched them leave, and then he pulled out his phone. It was from a number he didn't recognize. He would have Garcia check out the number if it was anything important. He was reading it as Prentiss came back in the room with J.J.

"Someone wrote you?" J.J. asked.

"Yeah," Morgan said as he re-read the message.

"Who is it?" Prentiss asked.

"Rickie. That deaf kid we found in the barn. He said the sheriff is at the hospital with Reid and Hotch. The sheriff is with them, and he's not letting their doctors in."

"Are we sure it's Rickie? J.J. asked. "Why would the sheriff be sneaking behind our backs like this?"

"He sure left in a hurry," Prentiss commented.

Morgan didn't really care if it was really Rickie or not. Whoever it was had his cell number, and went out of the way to tell Morgan that the sheriff was bothering Hotch and Reid. Morgan wouldn't put something like that past Sheriff Bill.

"We're leaving," Morgan announced. "I'm not letting him alone with Reid or Hotch."

Prentiss and J.J. nodded in agreement, and they left to get Rossi. If the sheriff was really at the hospital, Morgan felt like a good ass kicking was in order. No one had the right to barge into the hospital and demand to see the sickest patients there. He was going to have a nice little chat with the sheriff of the town, and then get his friends out of there.

_well, at least all of us got 2 see another side of the sheriff. told u he wasnt evil. just not smart and has the mind set of lots of people who live n super small town. hes a fun guy 2 write so ill give him that. but plzzzz review! reviews keep me alive. sounds far fetched but its totally true. what do u guys think will happen? till next time! xoxoxo_


	31. Chapter 31

_I don't think anything I could write would explain my super long absence lol. I got caught up with real life, sadly, and my mom seems 2 think that if i'm not making money writing, I should stop entirely so I get 2 put up with that whenever she sees me writing which is sad. but I managed to get this chapter written without her nagging me, and hopefully my writing muse will stay with me to the end of this story. =)_

J.J. was going to find one of those instant coffee makers while Morgan argued with the sheriff when she heard whimpers coming from Reid's room. They weren't exactly whimpers though. It didn't sound like he was in pain or anything. It was crying. She could barely hear it, and if she were any further away she wouldn't have heard it at all, but that's what it was. She was sure of it. She didn't even think he was awake yet. She knocked softly on the door, and pulled her hair back. It was still early and she couldn't remember the last time she slept, but she wanted to look halfway presentable to a friend who needed her.

"Spence? It's J.J."

The crying noise from inside the room stopped, but she wasn't going to wait for his permission to go inside. He would try to find some excuse about why her presence wasn't needed, but he needed to know that he couldn't do everything by himself. Needing to cry wasn't a sign of weakness, and it wasn't anything to be ashamed of. Reid was the baby of their team, and he always would be, but he had already seen things in his young life that J.J. was positive she would never see. He had lived through the most agonizing pain imaginable, and he was still there. Her mind still couldn't fathom the idea that boy genius had been raped again and again, and if she couldn't think about it, how could he live through it? He was stronger than she was.

Reid was on his side with part of his face hidden by the pillow. His eyes were still full of tears, and the tip of his nose was red. She was positive that he would deny crying, but she wasn't going to ask. She sat down on the chair in front of him, and didn't say anything at first. She thought about holding his hand to comfort him, but she remembered what Morgan told them when Hotch touched Reid. It would do more harm than good.

"You really miss Daniel?" she finally asked trying as hard as she could not to screw the kid's name up. She was sure it started with D, and Daniel was the first name that came to mind.

"It's my fault he died," Reid sputtered out. "I knew he was sick, and I didn't tell anybody until it was too late. He probably could have been saved if I figured it out sooner. He was so confused and alone, and he didn't have anyone else to turn to. He was trying to open up to me, and I let him down. He only did those things because his parents made him."

"Wasn't he the one who killed the teacher?" J.J. asked.

"I wasn't there," Reid said wiping a stray tear off his face. "And I kept telling her too that I was going to get her out of there. She was so scared, and I kept telling her it was going to be alright and now I'm in this bed and she's in a morgue."

Reid started crying, and J.J. had to hold it on not to just fall on the bed herself and hug him tight against her. As much as she wanted to, she had to remember that he didn't like being touched and she wasn't going to until he was ready.

"Joseph came in that freezer, and he said that he was going to take one of us," Reid said in between sniffles. "He was going to take me. I know he was, and then she started calling him names so he took her instead. That was the last time I saw her…Until I saw that Daniel was dragging her around the house. It's all my fault."

J.J. leaned in closer, and that's when Reid grabbed her. He wrapped his lanky arms around her, and dug his chin into her shoulder. She was surprised that he was opening up to her so quickly, but as gently as she could, she put her hands on her back. He was breathing deeply, and her shirt was quickly becoming damp with his tears, but he didn't shy away from her touch. He just sobbed and sobbed. She thought about patting his head, but she wasn't going to press her luck.

"Ssshhh," she whispered.

"I'm…so sorry. I really am. I'm sorry."

"Spence, none of this is your fault. The Bates family, that father, he was going to get somebody into the house whether it was you or not. You helped prevent them from getting other victims. You put a stop to this. All of this is over, and you helped. Did you know that one of the doctors lost his wife to this family? He's been waiting for this day to come for a long time."

Reid pulled away, and wiped his face with his hand. She wouldn't mind kicking some sheriff butt if he had done anything to damage boy genius any further. He still looked like just a shadow of his former self, but color was coming back to his face. He looked more alert than he had been when he first got here, but she still couldn't look at that black ring around his eye. For some reason, it reminded her of him jerking around the hospital bed when the paramedics got there. For some a moment in time, she lost him. She could still remember falling in the snow when he stopped breathing, and she could barely think as the paramedics tried revive him. That was probably the worst moment in her life, but that over. Reid was alive, and he was on the long road to recovery. She would be there every step of the way.

"I think Garcia is already planning a get well cake," J.J. with a smile. "I think it was meant to be a surprise, but pretty much everything does is a surprise."

Reid smiled weakly. After all they had gone through, it wasn't enough. The conversation and the physical contact was a huge leap in his progress, and she was going to accept that. It was further than the others had gotten with him.

"Let me say goodbye to her," Reid finally said. "I know you guys won't let me near Daniel even if he is gone, but Kate didn't do anything. She was my friend, and I never got to say goodbye."

That was a reasonable request. J.J. thought it would be cruel to deny him a final farewell to a friend, but she didn't know what it would do to his emotional state. One wrong move could set him back, and she wasn't going to do that to him. She vowed she would never let anything else happen to Reid.

"I don't know where they are keeping her," J.J. said. "I'll ask though."

"Please," Reid said quietly. "The last time I saw her…"

"Don't think about that," J.J. said cutting him off. "When did you wake up?"

"A few minutes before you came in," Reid said.

"Do you remember anything that happened last night? Did anyone else come in before me?"

"You were the only one in here today. Last night," Reid said licking his lips nervously. "I don't know. I think….what happened?"

J.J. cursed herself for bringing it up. She just wanted to find out what how much he remembered, but she never planned on him asking about it. She was trying to think of something to say, anything she could come up with to change the subject when the door cracked open. She didn't know who she was expecting, but she was relieved to see his doctor come in.

She turned around to make sure that Reid was still doing ok, and while he did look cautious, he wasn't having another panic attack. She made sure to stay in her seat. She wasn't going to make him more nervous by suddenly leaving.

"Hello Agent Reid," the doctor said. J.J. noticed he was still standing in the doorway. He was probably just as worried as she was about how Reid would react. "I don't believe we have been properly introduced yet. I'm the doctor in charge of your care during your stay here. My name is Dylan Gable, but you can just call me Dylan. Everyone else around here does."

"Hi," Reid replied after a brief pause.

"Is it alright if I come in?" Dylan asked with a kind smile.

Reid nodded his head, and Dylan slowly took a few steps towards them. J.J. already knew she liked this man, and she was glad he was the one in charge of taking care of Reid.

"Did you sleep well last night? Any dreams that you can remember?"

"I slept, but I can't remember any dreams."

"How are you feeling? Any pains or aches anywhere?" Dylan asked.

"My mouth is dry, and I have a headache," Reid said.

"Ah, then we have to get you something for that dry mouth right away, and I can get you some pain medication for the headache. Do any of your muscles feel stiff at all?"

"They feel alright," Reid said looking back at J.J.

"I was worried about that," Dylan said looking around the room, but never moving from his chosen spot on the floor. "We almost lost you to hypothermia, and I've had patients who suffered from spending too much time in the snow, but nothing like you. You have some angels protecting you. I'm sure of it. I should probably let you two get back to talking though. I'll get that pain medication, and a cup of water. I am pretty sure your stomach will be able to handle that today."

Dylan looked like he was about to leave right then, but he turned around and took another step forward. He reached his hand out, almost like he wanted Reid to shake it, but then he pulled it back.

"I just wanted to thank you for the work you and your team did," Dylan said. "We don't live in that town, but we have family that do, and my wife was always afraid to go near there. Thanks to you, she can sleep easier at night, and I can too. I can't thank you enough."

Reid smiled. It wasn't a big smile, but it was a smile and that was enough for J.J.

"I was just doing my job," Reid replied.

"Our baby daughter will finally be able to spend some quality time with her aunt," Dylan said. "We never wanted to risk leaving the baby there before. Thank you so much. I just wanted to tell you that. I'll be going to get that water now and the pain medication. I truly hope you are feeling better."

"Thank you doc…Dylan," Reid said correcting himself.

"It was nice to finally meet you," Dylan said smiling.

"You too," Reid said.

Dylan smiled at J.J., and then left the room. He left the door cracked open like before when he quietly left the room. Meeting the doctor for the first time didn't seem to affect Reid. He still looked worn out, but he was awake and he was looking around the room. He reached out and grabbed the stuffed bear that was sitting at his night table. He smiled at the brown bear, but the smile couldn't hide the sadness in his big eyes. She was going to talk to the others later that day about letting Reid say goodbye to the teacher. She really did believe that would help him get through this.

* * *

><p>Morgan was driving as fast as he could on the icy roads, and Rossi was holding onto the car door to stop himself from falling over during the sharp turns. He couldn't blame Morgan for the way he was driving. Rossi would probably be driving the exact same way if he was behind the wheel. All of them wanted to get to the hospital as quickly as possible, and driving on the snow filled roads was the only way to do it.<p>

"I can't believe that son of a bitch went sneaking around our backs," Morgan growled.

"He was probably planning this for a while," Prentiss added. "I thought something was up when he didn't want to stay with us when we talked to Laura."

"Yeah, but who would have that that he would force his way in and keep the doctor downstairs?"

Rossi didn't think the sheriff would be able to go through with what he intended. He didn't tell the others, but he didn't think anybody would be able to look at the face of someone who suffered as much as Hotch and Reid did and try to interview them. Morgan pulled the SUV right up beside where the sheriff had attempted to park. The sheriff somehow managed to get his car to take up three parking spots in his hurry to get inside. Morgan didn't say a single word about that, but the second he turned off the engine, he jumped out of the vehicle and ran inside. Prentiss was right behind him.

As much as the sheriff deserved it, Rossi figured that two people going in to attack him was more than plenty. He waited for J.J. to get out of the car, and after the doors locked, they walked side by side to the hospital's entrance. That's when Rossi noticed the skinny teenager standing behind a trash can. He pointed the kid out to J.J., and went over to see Rickie. He was still wearing the jacket Morgan gave him the other night, and Rossi was starting to wonder if Rickie had any jackets that were strong enough to stand this cold weather. Rickie turned around when they got close enough, and he smiled.

"Good morning Rickie," Rossi said patting his back.

"How are you feeling?" J.J. asked him.

Rickie pulled out his trusty notepad, and started scribbling away. Rossi couldn't imagine living in a world of silence. Most people thought that losing their sight would be the most terrible sense to lose, but Rossi didn't think so. Rossi was positive that he would go crazy if he had to live even one day without hearing a single sound.

_Did you guys go see what sheriff is doing_

"Yeah, Morgan and Prentiss already went in. Thank you for letting us know," Rossi said slowly. He wanted to make sure that Rickie would be able to see what he was saying.

_dont think he would want to hurt them, but hes not that smart_

"Did you have any breakfast yet?" Rossi asked Rickie. "I haven't yet, and I'm starving. Come inside with us."

J.J. smiled at him, and Rossi noticed how bashful Rickie looked when he smiled back. If Rossi had to guess, he would say that Rickie had a little crush on her. Rossi almost laughed when he thought of how many teenage boys had a crush on J.J.

"I'll pay," Rossi offered.

"Nah, its ok," J.J. said once they got inside. "I'm just going to grab some coffee, and see what's happening with the sheriff. I'd probably be throwing up any food after the way Morgan drove on the way over here."

Rossi laughed. "I have a strong stomach."

Rossi got behind Rickie in the breakfast line, and let the hungry kid pick out whatever he wanted. He made up his mind right then and there that he was going to help Rickie. He wasn't going to leave this town, and allow that boy to go back living like a second class citizen. He didn't know if he interested in adopting Rickie himself. Rossi was gone most of the time, and it wouldn't be exactly a loving home that the teen needed, but he was going to do something.

"How many foster families have you lived with?" Rossi asked quietly. There wasn't many people eating in the cafeteria, but he still didn't want anyone listening in on their conversation.

_Lots. No one wants a deaf kid_

"All around this area?"

_No. been lots of places. _

"What has been your favorite place?" Rossi asked him.

_Few years ago, lived with another boy and his family in new York. That was fun_

"What happened to them?"

_They moved to a smaller place. Couldn't have me anymore_

Rossi nodded, and let the kid finish his breakfast. Rossi was going through a list of friends in his head to figure out if any of them would be a good fit for Rickie. He knew the kid was almost legally an adult, but everyone needed a place that they could call home. Rickie took a big bite out of his waffle, and went back to scribbling in his pad.

_Don't need your help or sympathy. I can take care of myself_

"I'm sorry," Rossi exclaimed after reading the note. "I didn't mean to upset you. Did I say something wrong?"

_You're lookin at me like everyone else does. Your face tells me more about what you're thinking than your words. U look like you're expectin to see some hearing ear dog or something and you're not goin to. _

Rickie would probably have made an excellent member on the BAU team if he was older. Rossi knew that when people lost one sense, the ones they kept just grew stronger and this was terribly evident in Rickie. He could see more into people than people who did have working ears.

"I'm sorry," Rossi said again.

Rickie nodded, and finished the rest of his waffle without scribbling anything else down in his notepad. Rossi ate most of his eggs, but he couldn't finish them. This case was really taking a strong hold over all of them. His tummy never even growled anymore, and if he didn't put himself on a schedule of when to eat, he would probably forget all together. Even when he was supposed to be resting, he couldn't place all of the jumbled thoughts in his brain. He wasn't sure if the rest of the team knew it yet, but the relationship between Hotch and Reid would never be the same again. He was constantly worrying about the next time those two were together because he could not predict what would happen. Would Reid have another panic attack? Would Hotch withdraw from the world around him? What could he do if Reid snuck away from their protection and tried doing drugs again?

_r u thinkin about ur friends?_

Rossi almost didn't see the question until Rickie held it out in front of him.

"Yeah, they're always on my mind," Rossi told him.

_R they getting better?_

"They are much better," Rossi said. "They still have a long way to go, but they made it this far."

_So ur all leaving the second you can?_

"It will be better for them to rest in familiar surroundings," Rossi finally said. He didn't like the idea of leaving this kid with a family that liked it better when he was gone, but Rossi didn't have much of a choice. Even if he did have to leave though, he was still going to do everything in his power to help the teenager find a loving home.

_Guess I should give agent morgan the jacket back_

"You don't have to do it now," Rossi said.

_Ya, I do. I don't know when ill be seein you guys again_

Rickie was on his feet and throwing his plate away without giving Rossi a chance to argue with him. While Rickie was away, Rossi slipped several of his cards into the pocket of his jacket. He wasn't going to send the kid home without something warm to wear and some way to contact him. Rossi was leaving this town soon, but if Rickie ever needed him, he would be there.

"I think he is still upstairs," Rossi said after throwing his plate away. "Follow me."

Rossi didn't care if the kid wanted to go first, but he wanted to make sure that Morgan wasn't beating up the sheriff in the hallway or something. The sheriff didn't deserve anything less, but he didn't want to have to explain what was happening to Rickie. He just prayed they weren't right in front of Reid's door or Hotch's door. Their yelling would be enough to wake anyone up.

Rickie was sad to know that Rossi would be leaving soon, but he knew it was coming. The FBI guys probably moved around more than he did. When they left, his life would go back to what he considered normal. He would continue working at the jail, and he would do the few lessons that his foster parents left for him. Usually, the state would have sent someone to make sure he was keeping up with his school work, but he didn't remember the last time they came. He stayed behind Rossi in the elevator, but he didn't see anyone in the hallway when they got out. Rossi went to the nurse's station, but Rickie decided to look around for a second.

He only took a few steps away from Rossi when he bumped into someone in a wheelchair. The man had jet black hair, dark eyes, and he had scratches that Rickie could see on his arms and face. Rickie wasn't sure, but if he had to guess, he would bet it was one of the agents. The hospital gown he was wearing couldn't hide the huge cast over one of his legs, and it was impossible not to notice the thick bandages covering his wrists. The man looked just as shocked as Rickie felt when they bumped into each other.

"Who are you?" Rickie saw the man ask.

Rickie put his hands over his ears and shook his head. Then he moved both his hands to cover his mouth, and shook his head again. He could probably do those movements in his sleep.

"Wait, what?"

Rickie was about to do it again when he felt someone's hand on his shoulder. He didn't need to turn around to know it was Agent Rossi. He was sure the kind man was explaining everything to the other agent. Rossi could just see past the wheelchair into the man's room, and he was sure it would be impossible to count all of the cards and balloons surrounding the agent's bed. He was sure that Laura put this man through hell, but this man had stronger support than he was probably even aware of. Rickie was envious of the love this team shared, but what could he do?

"Meet you Rickie," the agent in the wheelchair said.

Rickie smiled at him, but the man already looked like he was lost in his own thoughts.

"I couldn't keep sitting in that bed," Rickie saw him tell Agent Rossi. "I feel fine, and I'll go nuts if I have to stay in that room any longer."

Rickie was sure that conversation was meant to just be between Agent Rossi and the man in the wheelchair. He took a step away so Rossi could get closer. Rossi seemed genuinely concerned for the other man, and Rickie almost felt like it was his fault that the man wasn't in his bed.

"I figure if I am well enough to get myself into this chair, I am well enough to get back to work. I already left a message for Jack this morning, and I've been trying to get through to Strauss."

Rickie took another step back, and went around the corner. He didn't want to be involved in their argument. He just wanted to give Agent Morgan his jacket back, and be on his way. He was sure that he would be needed at the station soon. He took the jacket off, and looked around. He was half hoping that he would see the tall agent walking towards the elevators, but all he saw was two nurses typing diligently at their stations. He didn't want to get lost, but he didn't want to wait around for Agent Rossi to show him around. He didn't need a babysitter. He turned around another corner, and spotted a doctor leaving one of the rooms. Maybe Morgan was visiting with the other agent or something. If he was in there, Rickie wouldn't mind leaving the jacket by the door for him.

He made sure that no one was behind him when he made his way down that hallway. The balloons by the door assured him that this was the second agent's room. He peaked his head in the cracked open door, and saw the pretty blonde sitting by the bed. He couldn't see the fellow in the bed, but he could tell they were talking. He felt bad staring at them like they were some kind of soap opera playing out for his entertainment. He made sure not to shut the door behind him when he left. He wasn't going to make any kind of noise to disturb the special moment those two were sharing. He turned around, and saw Rossi coming towards him.

"Where did you go?" Rossi asked him.

Rickie made sure to step away from the other agent's room before he got the notepad out of his back pocket.

_Went lookin for Agent Morgan. Couldn't find him._

"You wanted to see Agent Reid?"

Rickie felt himself blushing. He didn't want to go spying on anyone.

_No, I thought agent morgan might be in there. He wasn't_

"It's fine," Rossi said putting his hand back on Rickie's shoulder. "I think Agent Morgan is over there. I can hear his voice."

Rickie nodded, and put the pad in his back pocket. He did feel terrible for sneaking around. He was usually a pro at it. When he was younger, he managed to stay hidden from one of his foster families for over a week. He only revealed himself when he got hungry enough, but he never considered himself to be a sneak. He just didn't want to make anything worse for the men recovering in the hospital. Rickie decided not to go to hospital anymore. He wasn't needed there, and it was better not to get attached to any of them since they were leaving.

* * *

><p>Morgan's blood was boiling. If that sheriff had done anything to Reid or Hotch, Morgan would kill him. Morgan didn't know if either one of them had a good night's sleep since they got there, and anything the sheriff did would just make things worse. Prentiss was right behind him when he ran up the stairs to the second level of the hospital. His feet would get him faster there than an elevator. He didn't even want to wait for Prentiss to get the poor doctor who was still being held captive by some lousy officer.<p>

"Doctor, would you mind coming with us?" Prentiss asked. Morgan waited by the staircase impatiently.

The young doctor looked surprised, but he quickly moved over towards Prentiss.

"Agents, you may have all the power in this world, but the sheriff rules here," the officer explained. "He's in charge and we follow his rules in his town."

"Yes," Prentiss said calmly. "But we are no longer in his town. We left there about ten minutes ago."

They waited for him to argue or protest, but he didn't. He just stood back and allowed the doctor to leave the waiting room with Prentiss. The doctor was shaking hands with Prentiss, and smiled at Morgan.

"Thank you guys so much," he said. "I told the sheriff to leave my patient alone, and that he wasn't ready for any more visitors, but he wasn't listening. I'm scared to death that he did something to backtrack any progress Agent Reid has made."

Morgan nodded, and led the way up the staircase. He pushed the doors open, and looked both ways. He found the sheriff just leaving Reid's room, and as much as he wanted to attack him right then and there, he had to wait. He wasn't going to do anything that might upset Reid further. He didn't know if the sheriff actually talked to the boy genius or not, but he had clearly been in the kid's room, and that was enough to make Morgan want to kick his ass.

"Looks like he's going to the elevators," Prentiss whispered.

"Maybe he wants to ask someone where Hotch's room is," Morgan growled.

"Please don't confront him in front of Reid's room," the doctor urged. "Please."

He waited until the sheriff was a safe distance from Reid's room before he pounced. He wasn't stupid, and he knew that a shouting match outside of Reid's room was a terrible idea. It took almost all of his self-control to not jump the sheriff the second he walked by, but he managed to control himself. He didn't know what he expected the official to say, but nothing could explain why he wanted to further upset the only survivors of that damned family.

"What hell were you thinking?" Morgan shouted at him from behind.

The sheriff turned around, and once he saw Morgan and Prentiss coming towards him, he loudly sighed. The doctor was not far behind.

"Look, I'm sorry," the sheriff said sitting down. "I wasn't thinking."

"Yeah, that's right, you weren't thinking!" Morgan shouted. "Did you talk to him? What did you do to him?"

"Was he awake? Did he say anything?" the doctor asked.

"No, he was fast asleep," the sheriff mumbled. "Don't know if you could actually call that fast asleep or not, but he wasn't awake. Think he was having a bad dream or something, but I didn't wake him up. I didn't even touch him. I'm not some soulless creep."

"I was trying to tell you earlier what a fragile state he is in," the doctor explained. "He did have a very rough night last night, and he deserves some respect. I would love to see how you would react if people went sneaking into your hospital room after you almost died. Sheriff."

"I'm sorry," the sheriff said. "What else do you want me to say?"

"That you won't do it again," Morgan said firmly. "That you will leave him alone and let him rest. Agent Hotchner too."

"I won't," the sheriff promised. "I'm not some cold blooded monster you FBI folk are makin me out to be."

"If you guys want to talk anymore, can you please do it in the TV room?" the doctor asked after a short pause. "We are too close to the patient's rooms, and I don't want any of them hearing your business. Ok?"

"Fine," the sheriff said.

Morgan followed at his heel to the little room in the corner. It had a small television on one of the walls, and the pale pink wallpaper matched the chairs. The sheriff sat in the biggest chair he could find. Prentiss sat across from him while Morgan chose to stand. He didn't want to get comfortable with some dumb ass that could have hurt his friend.

"You didn't spend that long with Laura," sheriff said.

"Yeah, well, when you get back to the station, she's not going to be very happy," Prentiss said. "She didn't take hearing about her dead husband and sons well. She went a little psycho."

"A little more psycho," Morgan added.

"She's actually a very dangerous person," Prentiss said. "I don't recommend leaving any of your officers alone with her, especially that deaf boy you have working for you. It isn't safe. She doesn't have any problems attacking anyone around her."

"I don't think she has the skills or brains to escape from custody," Morgan went on. "But don't trust her not to try."

"I don't think we're going to stay for her trial," Prentiss told him. "Hotch needs to go home. Reid needs to go home. I think we've done all we can do here."

All three of them were quiet for a moment. All they could hear was the sound of some talk show in the background. Morgan had to agree with Prentiss though. It would be a while before that woman stood trial, and he could always come back for that. What he wanted didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was making sure Reid and Hotch got well again.

"When are you leaving?" the sheriff asked.

"As soon as the doctors tell us that Hotch and Reid are able to fly," Prentiss said. "It will be a little while before Hotch can walk again, but I'm positive he will be able to recover more at home in familiar surroundings."

"And I think we need to wait to see how bad Reid's ptsd is," Morgan said slowly.

"I'm sorry all of this happened to you guys. I really am," the sheriff said. "If there's anything else I could do for y'all, let me know. Destroying that God-forsaken barn today. Already got some of my guys clearing it out. Don't want to accidentally destroy some evidence, but I don't think we're goin need anything from that place to convict this bitch."

"Probably not," Rossi said from the doorway. Morgan heard him walk up, but didn't think twice of it.

"Where's J.J.?" Prentiss asked looking around. Morgan could see the deaf kid next to Rossi, but he didn't see J.J. anywhere.

"She's in with Reid," Rossi said. "She's getting him to talk so it's probably best to leave them alone for now."

"Guess I'll be on my way now," the sheriff said standing up. He stretched his arms out behind him, and plopped his hat back on his head.

Morgan turned around to see the skinny teen come out from behind Rossi holding his jacket. He held it out for Morgan to take. The kid had some thin sweater on, but Morgan had a nagging feeling that the kid didn't own anything like the warmth this jacket offered. Morgan was already wearing another one of the many jackets he brought with him for this trip, and he could easily buy another one. Rickie couldn't.

"No kid, you keep it," Morgan said smiling. "You might need it today when you're helping the sheriff with the barn. Don't you think?"

The kid looked like he wanted to protest, but Morgan moved around him. He didn't care about the jacket. He had bigger things on his mind.

"Come on Rickie," the sheriff said. "Didn't know you were even here."

The sheriff put an arm around Rickie's neck, and led the kid to the elevators. Rickie looked back once at Morgan and Rossi, but the weight of what was happening was finally affecting him, and he leaned against the wall to support him. He didn't want to admit it to anyone, but he was exhausted. As much as he wanted to stay to watch Laura suffer in jail, he knew that they needed to leave. He probably wouldn't get a good night's sleep until he was back in his own bed.

"That was nice of you to give him your jacket," Rossi said smiling.

"Didn't take much effort," Morgan said laughing a little.

"So guys, is this our new meeting room?" J.J. asked coming down the hallway.

"What happened to Reid?" Morgan asked quickly. "Is he alright?"

"Yeah, he's fine. The doctor wanted to look over his stitches, and he said I could go. I think he's starting to feel like his old self," J.J. said with a smile. "But he was asking to see Parker's body. I didn't know what to tell him."

"Parker is the teacher right?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah," J.J. said as she made her way into the room. She sat down on an armchair by the television. Rossi sat across from her. Morgan still didn't want to sit down. He was afraid that if he let his body rest for even a moment, he would fall asleep. He didn't want to risk it.

"Why does he want to see her?" Prentiss asked. "I mean, I don't know what the coroner managed to do with her body, but she was in terrible shape. I think it would do more damage than good."

"He wants to say goodbye," J.J. said simply.

"It would give him closure," Rossi added. "I mean, I don't how close he got to her, but it must have been pretty close for him to bring her up. Did he mention Daniel at all?"

"No, not Daniel," J.J. said. "But I didn't talk to him for that long. I didn't want to push my luck, but he talked about Parker a lot. I think he really does miss her."

"But wouldn't it ruin all the progress he has made?" Morgan argued. "I mean, wouldn't he rather remember her like she was instead of how she is now? I just don't want him to hurt anymore."

"It's better than the way the last time he saw her," another voice said. Morgan looked up, and saw Hotch had somehow wheeled himself all the way to the TV room. J.J. immediately stood up, but Garcia was already behind him. He didn't need any more help than that. Garcia had dark circles under her eyes. She was usually working with the computers back at the office. She wasn't used to this, and it was killing Morgan to see the technology goddess like that.

"Hotch, you shouldn't be out of bed," J.J. said.

"I feel fine," Hotch insisted. "Reid wants to see Kate?"

"Yes," Prentiss said.

"The last time he saw her," Hotch said wheeling himself in the room. "A psychotic teen was dragging her around, and Reid was locked in a room with her. I think letting him see her once last time will give him closure. He never got to say goodbye to her, and he never got to say goodbye to Daniel. He needs this."

Morgan could tell that the others were leaning towards Hotch on this one. He was there, and he knew how badly Reid had been hurt, but Morgan was still skeptical. He would sooner cut off his own hands than allow Reid to suffer anymore. He was physically safe, but he was still a prisoner of his own thoughts. Morgan could protect him from any harm that was thrown his way, but he couldn't protect him from the monsters in his mind.

* * *

><p>Sheriff Bill was glad for a quiet ride back to the Bates house. He did feel like an ass for what he did, and if he had a chance to do it over, he never would have tried talking to the only survivors. That was cruel, and getting a statement from them wasn't really necessary. He prayed both men made a full recovery, and that the BAU was able to forgive him for his stupid actions. Once Laura was sent away to a larger jail to await for her trial, Bill was confident life as he once knew it would return. His town would go back to sleeping with their doors unlocked without any fear, and Christmas that year would be picture perfect just like it always was. He was going to tell the school not to hire anymore teachers from out of state. He didn't know what part Parker played in this, but he was sure she wasn't some innocent like the BAU was making her out to be. He didn't know if it was because of the way he was raised, but he never did trust people who weren't born and raised in the town. He was sure that if he looked into town records, he would find that the Bates family hadn't lived there that long. They couldn't have.<p>

He wasn't sure what he was going to do with that damned house. He could destroy the barn easily, but the house was another story. The lawyers would want to get a good look at it, and he was sure there was more hidden in the house that his officers could find. He had no problem with more eyes searching around, but he wasn't looking forward to the vandals and kids breaking it for a night a ghost stories. He loved haunted house. He used to go to them every year when he was younger, and he wouldn't even mind one in his town if the victims weren't still fresh in their graves.

"Did you talk to the agents sir?" Jake asked from the backseat.

Bill let Rickie sit next to him in the front. The kid had something on his mind, and Bill never bothered to ask what the teen was doing at the hospital. It wasn't any of his business, and he had gotten himself in enough trouble for one morning.

"I did what I needed to do," Bill said sharply. He didn't put up with nosy officers. If he had any information to share, he would have shared it already.

He parked close to the other police vehicles outside the Bates house. Yellow police tape was still wrapped around the house, and he could see crime scene investigators walking around the property. Several of them were flashing their cameras at something they thought would help this open and shut case, and he was sick of them. They were nothing more than paparazzi to the dead. He couldn't wait until they left, and went back to their fancy houses in the city.

"Go see if any of the other officers need any help," Bill told Jake. He wasn't going to have the man wandering around without anything to do.

"Yes sir," Jake said. He ran over to the other cops, and Bill turned to face Rickie.

"Want to make sure everythin is cleared out of the barn?" he asked.

Rickie nodded, and headed in that direction.

"Mornin sheriff," a female deputy called out as she walked over. As much as Bill hated hiring women to do men jobs, he didn't really have a choice. He didn't want to deal with any psychotic feminists demanding equality.

"How's it goin?" Bill asked.

"Barn is totally cleared out," she said with a pleasant smile. "Got everything from old stools to saddles in a pile by the trees. That includes the hay that was on the floor. Didn't want something hiding in the straw that we could have missed. Have magazines and books in another pile, and we put everything that could be considered evidence in another pile and that includes everything from hay with blood on it to a pitchfork by the window."

"And how close are we to tearing this thing down?" Bill asked looking up at it.

"Already got some bulldozers ready to go," she said pointing them out. "We were just waiting for your order."

"I'll just have one last walk through, and then let's get rid of this thing," Bill told her.

He didn't invite her to walk with him, and when he saw Rickie helping with other officers, he would do this alone. He noted the peeling paint on the boards holding the barn up, and he wondered how old it really was. Even when he was just a kid, he remembered this place, and he was sure that his father also knew all about it. It was almost like a piece of the town's history. Most the houses by Main Street were terribly old, but there was something about this barn that made it stand out. He never could have imagined that it would be destroyed during his lifetime.

Cold air hit his face as he stepped into the condemned building. The creaking of the boards against the wind almost sounded like crying. It was unsettling to think of the idea that the barn knew it was in its final moments. Bill saw blood stains on the floor, and splattered across one of the walls, but the whole thing looked cleaned out. He couldn't find anything in the separate stalls, and if he backed up, he was able to see the balcony was also empty. He wasn't going to trust himself on the ladder leading up there. He had his weight under control, but he wasn't in the best shape of his life anymore. It didn't matter much to him. It wasn't like he ever had to go chasing after criminals in some bank heist. Stuff like that never happened it his town. It wasn't supposed to, and he managed to avoid it until now. How many people died in this barn? He didn't think that he would ever know truthfully. He was pretty confident that Laura did not commit any of the murders. She was an accomplice for sure and may have helped with the abductions, but Bill didn't think she was large enough to take down a full grown man.

Bill put his hand against the bloodied wall, and said a quick prayer. The souls of the murdered victims were at peace, but the people they left behind would never be the same again. The destruction of this place was going to be in their honor. After Laura's trial was done, he was sure he could get some kind of memorial put where the barn once stood. As much as he wanted to, there was no way in hell he could just sweep this under the road. He had been lucky this far to not have people walking up to him to demand what was going on. He wasn't going to push his luck and pretend the Bates family never existed.

He hit the board with an open palm, and walked back outside to his waiting officers. A few of them were standing by the bulldozers. The evidence found inside the barn, including the bloody pitch fork that Lily mentioned, was being loaded into vans. Bill did not plan on visiting hell after he died, but he was sure that hell would be pale in comparison to this barn.

"Tear her down," he shouted to the officers.

The bulldozers turned on, and the giant claw from each dozer ripped into the barn. The roof was torn open, and it trembled on its foundation. The second bulldozer added a claw to the other side, and that's when the barn finally fell. It collapsed onto itself, and smoke filled the air. It was over. All that would be left of the place Bill referred to as hell was broken boards and shattered memories. He was concerned that he still hadn't found any photos belonging to that teacher's camera, but they had to be somewhere in the house. The whole family was a nutcase so they could have gone as far to hide the photos in a tree or something. He didn't care how long it took, but he was going to find those pictures.

"Sheriff Bill?"

He was so entranced with his own thoughts that he almost didn't hear the woman coming up beside him. He didn't recognize the woman with the short brown hair, but it took less than a second to decide that he didn't want to talk to her. A man holding a very large, very expensive, video camera was right behind her.

"My name is Patti Clark, and I am here with Channel 3 News. Would you care to answer a few questions about Joseph Bates and his family?"

* * *

><p>Laura's sons couldn't be dead. They just couldn't. She saw her husband get shot, but not her boys. Who in the right mind would kill a child? The police had to be keeping them somewhere else. It was the only way to get her to talk. Her boys were safe. She knew it. She may have fallen for the tricks from the FBI once, but she wasn't going to do it again. She sat in a fetal position on the floor next to her bed, and every 3 seconds, she would ram her head into the wall. It hurt a little, but not enough to make her stop, and she wasn't going to stop. She wasn't going to eat, drink, or stop hurting herself until she saw Joseph and Daniel again.<p>

_pretty plz review. its been so long and reviews and the fact that criminal minds is now back on the air will hopefully get me writing faster and better than ever before. as long as my mom isn't standing around watching hahaha. till next time my loyal friends xoxoxo_


	32. Chapter 32

_sorry for the long delay again guys. its not my fault I promise lol. my dog just gave birth to 6 puppies 6 weeks away. they r little balls of fur and all they do is run around and squeak and I think its the cutest thing I have ever seen n my life. so ya. they have been keeping me beyond busy. anyways, story is slowly winding down. I see the end of the tunnel which is sad but all stories must have an end. trying 2 tie up some loose ends. this chapter has some major angst though. xoxo_

Garcia was exhausted. She didn't sleep well the night before, and while she didn't tell the others, she had nightmares. She didn't want to worry the others piling her problems on top of the ones they were still facing. She missed the safety of her office, and the warmth her stuffed animals offered her. She brought a few with her to the hotel, but they couldn't erase everything she had seen. She wasn't there when the team finally took down that family, but she was one of the first to see what the family had done to the teacher. She tried as hard as she could, but was impossible to get that image out of her mind. She wanted to talk to Morgan about it, she knew that he would be able to calm her down, but after seeing how upset Morgan looked that morning, she didn't have the heart to mention it. If Reid and Hotch could live through the Bates, she could get over a couple of nightmares. It made her want to cry when she looked down at Hotch who was trapped in a wheelchair. He didn't do anything to deserve what happened to him, and all of the stuffed animals in the world wouldn't help. They couldn't help.

"Agent Hotchner?"

Garcia saw one of the doctors rushing towards them.

"What are you doing out of bed?"

Hotch looked away to avoid the doctor's gaze. No matter what that doctor told Hotch, it wasn't going to keep him in that bed. She knew that.

"I said that we could probably get you into a wheelchair today," the doctor said. "I didn't say for you to jump into the first wheelchair you could find and take a tour of the hospital."

"I heard the hospital looks the best in the morning light," Hotch replied.

"Ya, well, what would happen if you ripped one of the stitches in your leg? I don't know if any of your tour guides would be able to help," he said with a sly smile.

"Touché," Rossi said.

"My leg feels fine," Hotch said.

"Would you mind if I looked over it?" the doctor asked. "I'd like to check your vitals as well. If all goes well, you could probably start eating jello today. I'm sure you miss eating on your own."

"That's what I dream about," Hotch said.

"I'll go with you big guy," Morgan volunteered.

"And I'll buy some breakfast for the rest of you," Rossi said smiling.

"I'm not hungry," Emily started saying.

"No arguing," Rossi cut off. "I know for a fact that I was the only one who ate since last night, and if you don't start eating soon, you will all be falling over. I hate to remind you that eating is essential to survival, and unless you want to get a hospital room of your own, you'll eat now."

"But what if I throw up?" J.J. asked.

"You won't," Rossi said helping her out of the chair.

"I already ate," Garcia told them. "I had a muffin in my bag."

Rossi studied her face for a second, but accepted her explanation without any complaint. He guided Emily and J.J. out to the hallway, and watched them all get in the elevator to down. She heard the girls protesting the whole way. She felt bad about lying, but she was confident that her stomach wouldn't be able to handle any food. When she was sure they were all in the cafeteria, she called a cab and had him to drive her to where all of the bodies were being kept. She wasn't planning on seeing any of them. She was sure that she would die if she had to look at that woman's face one more time, but there was something she had to do.

She paid the cab driver his money, and stood outside the dark building. It gave her the creeps, and even with the sun rising over the forest trees, she still wanted to be as far away from that place as possible. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

It wasn't exactly pleasant inside. There wasn't a radio playing music over her head, and there weren't any pretty paintings on the walls. There was nothing to calm her nerves except for a couple sitting on the chairs. She couldn't imagine what they were doing there, but it wasn't any of her business. She walked over to an older man behind the front counter. He looked up when he saw her, and although his smile was kind, Garcia was creeping herself out. The air in there was cold, and she knew that there were dead bodies just behind the door to her left.

"Hi, my name is Penelope Garcia," she started. Her voice was shaking. She knew it, but she couldn't control it. This place was freaking her out. "I'm here with the FBI."

"You're Garcia?" the man sitting down asked. "You found our daughter."

"Excuse me?" She turned around, and the couple stood up. It was then that she noticed both of their eyes were red, and their faces were stained with tears.

"Our daughter," the woman repeated. "Kate Parker. We just got in town a little while ago, and we read on the reports that you were one of the people that found her.

"Yeah, I was there," Garcia said. "I'm so sorry for your loss. I really am. I can't imagine what you are going through."

"We just wanted to thank you and your team for finding her," the woman said. She reached out and squeezed Garcia's hands. "Thank you so much."

"You were the one who brought her dog's body here too, weren't you?" the man asked. "You have no idea how much she loved that dog. We were surprised when Ed told us that her dog's body was saved. We cannot thank you enough."

"It was no problem at all," Garcia said quietly.

"Are you here to see her body?" the mother asked.

"No, um, actually, one of my friends was there with her. He was kidnapped shortly after she was, and they became friends. He was actually hoping he could see her to say goodbye."

"He survived?" the mother asked.

"He's in the hospital," Garcia said. "He almost died, but he's been asking to see her."

"We're taking her body back home with us," the father sniffled out. "She was our only child, but the rest of her family is there. She was our baby girl. She needs to be back home."

"Are you taking her today?"

"We want to leave as soon as we can," the mother said. "We don't like her being here with the people who did this to her."

"But I don't know if my friend can come to see her today," Garcia said quickly. "I mean, he wasn't awake most of the day yesterday and today has just started."

"Here," the man said reaching into his pocket. He nodded at his wife, and pulled a small necklace out. "One of the officers gave this to us. It belonged to Kate. Give this to your friend. I'm sure she would want him to have it."

Garcia took the little piece of jewelry, and hugged the grieving father. He buried his face in her shoulder, and started sobbing. Garcia did her best to keep the larger man steady.

"The sheriff wasn't going to tell us, was he?" the mother asked.

"I don't know."

"We should have been informed the second she went missing," the mother went on. "She was an adult, but we're her parents. We had a right to know what was happening to her, and how long has she been gone now? If your people didn't call us, how much longer would we have had to wait? Until Thanksgiving when she didn't show up?"

"I told her not to come down here. I told her not to," her father sobbed.

Garcia didn't know what to say. She had never met their daughter, and nothing she could tell them would bring her back. All she could do was pat the grieving man on his back. She knew that if they didn't find Hotch and Reid when they did, she could be the one crying in this wretched place. The life she was once knew could be over in the blink of an eye.

"She's never going to leave you," Garcia found herself saying. "If you love someone enough, they will never really die. She is always going to be with you."

"Mr. and Mrs. Parker," a man asked from the doorway. "I have her on the table if you would like to look at her."

The man slowly pulled away from Garcia, and when she saw his face, she felt like crying herself. The mother of the slain teacher was a lot more composed than her husband. He was trembling.

"Thank you agent," Mrs. Parker told her. "I hope your friend will be able to come say goodbye to her."

Mr. Parker just nodded his head in agreement with his wife, and then they both followed the man working there to be back room. Garcia took a deep breath, and turned away. She didn't want to even see the room where the bodies were being kept.

"What can I do for agent?" the same man asked after the couple went in. He circled behind the check in counter, and started looking through some papers.

"Um, hi," Garcia said glancing at the door where the couple went.

"They need alone time with their daughter," he said without thinking. "I'm not going to be hovering over them. If they need me for anything, I'll hear them call. What can I help you with?"

"Are the bodies of the Bates family here?"

"Yes. I have Benjamin, Joseph, and Daniel Bates here. I also have the body of the kid who drown in the lake, and the teacher that you already know about."

"Do you know what is going to happen to the Bates bodies?"

"Not sure. Sheriff hasn't told me, but I wouldn't be surprised if he burned them all and threw their ashes off a cliff. Or feeds them to chickens. Or drops them in the middle of the ocean somewhere that is rampant with sharks. Any of those ideas would work."

"Okay, this might sound super crazy because it probably is, but I would like to pay for one of them to get buried."

"What?" the man finally looked up from his papers.

"Daniel Bates, the youngest one," Garcia said. "I would like to pay for his casket, a suit, and someplace for him to be buried. I think I only saw one cemetery in town, but I am sure you can put his grave under a fake name so it wouldn't be disturbed."

"Why would you want to do this? He was a murderer," the man exclaimed.

"He also had a humongous tumor growing in his brain and scars on his back from a lifetime of abuse," Garcia said. "Child abuse is no laughing matter. The least you could do is give him a proper burial when his parents couldn't let him have a proper childhood. Please. Just pick him out a nice suit and a casket, and bury him somewhere where his grave won' be vandalized."

"Fine," he said. "I don't know why you're doing this, but it's your money."

"Please don't tell anyone that it was me," Garcia said "Just send me the bill, and tell me where he gets buried."

Garcia didn't really care if the kid got buried or not. She was doing this for Reid. She heard about his flip out after he found out Daniel died, and Hotch mentioned that Reid talked to Daniel a lot. She was praying that Reid's worried mind would be able to relax once he found out that the troubled teen was finally away from his abusive family. Daniel would truly rest in peace.

* * *

><p>Dylan didn't allow any of the nurses in with him when it was time to look over Reid's bandages and stitches. He wasn't going to do anything that might set his patient back. If that meant he had to work alone, so be it. He got gloves over his hands, and made sure the door was cracked open. He didn't normally do that, but he wanted to assure Reid that he wasn't locked in another room with a stranger.<p>

"Is it alright if I look at your back?" Dylan asked.

He could see the young doctor consider his question for a moment, and then he nodded his head in consent. He turned to the side of the bed so his back was facing Dylan. Dylan made sure his movements were slow so he wouldn't startle the younger man. He untied the hospital gown, and let it fall open on the sides. His back didn't look that bad. The once open wounds looked to be healing nicely and none of them were that red anymore. He put a finger up to one of the larger ones and Reid hissed out in pain.

"Sorry, sorry," Dylan quickly said.

"They still sting," Reid said quietly.

"It looks like they are healing," Dylan told him. "I just wish you didn't have so many here to worry about. I don't think you are out of the ball park yet for chance of infections. All of these will need to be cleaned regularly. I don't think any of these were too deep, but you weren't in the most sanitary conditions before you got here. Can't let you get sick."

Dylan followed the trail of stitches down his back, and he shuddered when he was reminded of how far down they went. His eyes went down to the black bruises just above his rear end, but he wasn't going to check those stitches just yet. They could wait. Whoever did this to this young man needed to burn in hell.

"I can check on the other stitches tomorrow, but do you think I could get a look at the mark on your chest? Four of your ribs were broken, and I want to make sure that it's looking like it should. Does it still hurt?"

"Yes," Reid said.

"Can I look?"

Reid nodded, and turned around so he was facing Dylan. Dylan noticed that Reid's eyes were looking everywhere but at his. He didn't mind.

"I'm going to have to pull the gown down a bit, is that alright?"

Reid nodded again, and Dylan slowly pulled the gown down. He moved as slowly as possible as to not startle the younger man. He noticed that Reid was holding his breath, and while Dylan didn't approve of that, it was better than a panic attack. He pulled it over Reid's shoulders, but made it a point not to stare. He got it down to his elbows, and let the gown hang there. He undid the bandages as carefully as he could. Dylan had never been so nervous before around a patient, but he knew what a fragile state the young agent was in. He wasn't going to do anything to cause him anymore heartache.

Dylan gently removed the bandage from the pale chest, and put it on the table. A fresh bandage was already waiting. When he turned back, he was happy to see that Reid had not fled. He would never forget what Reid did the night he was brought in, and while it would probably never happen again. Dylan was prepared. The bruise didn't look that much different from when he first saw it, but that was a good thing. The skin wasn't broken, it wasn't growing any larger, and the dark color was starting to lighten up. He put the new bandage on it, and pulled the hospital gown back up. He wasn't looking forward to checking the stitches later, but he wasn't going to mention it to put the agent under more stress.

"How long have you been married?" Reid asked.

Dylan stared at him for a moment. He couldn't remember telling the agent, but then he remembered his wedding ring. He smiled at himself for forgetting it.

"Less than a year, but she is my life," Dylan said. "We went to high school together, and I am pretty sure it was love at first sight. Her name is Catherine, and we have a little baby named Debbie. She is the cutest baby I have ever seen."

He pulled his cell phone out and proudly showed off his daughter to the agent. The baby was smiling with a sparkle in her dark blue eyes. Dylan suddenly missed her terribly. He had been spending nights at the hospital to make sure nothing happened to his patient. Catherine never once complained, but he was homesick. He pushed his glasses up his nose and tried not to think about it. He would call home when he was done here.

"She's beautiful," Reid told him.

"Thanks," Dylan said. "Maybe you will be able to meet her before you leave."

"Did my chest…Bruise look ok?" Reid asked.

"It's going to heal nicely," Dylan said with a smile. "And I have told the nurses to start you off with soft food today. I was told that they found you outside in the snow at night, and so I really was surprised to find not one frostbitten toe or finger. I am sure your guardian angel was helping you keep warm, but your digestive system did get messed up from the hypothermia so we are going to start out slowly. Just some rice and jello today, and we'll go up from there."

"I was," Reid started. "I was going to go to the morgue today."

Dylan had been packing up, but he turned around sharply.

"Wait, what?"

"I need to say goodbye to someone," Reid said more firmly. "She was with us in there. She was with us, but she didn't make it. I never got to say goodbye."

Dylan wanted to scold the younger man, but he couldn't once he saw Reid trembling ever so slightly. Reid's eyes told him that he wasn't going to back down, and Dylan couldn't help but feel sorry for him. The poor guy had been through so much already, and he was willing to go back out into the snow to give last respects to a friend. Dylan respected that.

"You can't wait until tomorrow at the earliest?" Dylan asked.

"No, I don't know when her family is coming," Reid said. "I am sure they would come, and nobody would bother telling me."

"The teacher is the one you're seeing?"

"Yes."

"And you know this isn't the best idea, but nothing I say will talk you out of it. Correct?"

"Yes."

Dylan sighed, and pulled out one of his cards.

"Who is going with you?"

"I don't know," Reid answered slowly.

Dylan looked at his watch, and back at Reid.

"Give me an hour," Dylan said.

He didn't approve of Reid leaving the hospital, and he knew that no one on Reid's team had any medical training. He could have easily used the time to go home with his wife, but he wasn't going to let his patient go out in the snow alone. He was going to grab the biggest coat from his office, and prepare himself to spend some time in the morgue.

* * *

><p>Morgan wheeled Hotch back to his room. Hotch wanted to wheel himself, but Morgan wouldn't hear of it. Hotch kept wanting to talk about Reid visiting the teacher, but Morgan wasn't going to discuss it without the rest of the team. Hotch needed to focus on getting well. That was all. The hospital room looked pleasant enough, but he could understand why the chief leader wouldn't want to be cooped up in there all day. It would be boring as hell, but that's what Hotch needed. He needed to let his mind rest so his body could recover, but he wasn't sure if Hotch would ever let his mind rest. He was the kind of guy who was probably working in his sleep.<p>

He wheeled Hotch over to the bed, and sat down in the chair next to it. Hotch looked less than pleased to be there.

"Want the TV on?" Morgan asked.

"No, I want to get back on the plane and go home," Hotch said.

"We're not doing that until your doctor thinks its ok for you to drive," Morgan said.

"I'm not as sick as everybody seems to think I am," Hotch said. "My leg is broken, and I have a few cuts. It's nothing."

"That's not how your doctor acted when he saw you rolling down the hallways," Morgan answered.

"When did you tell Strauss we would be back?"

"She knows we are waiting for the doctor's ok," Morgan said. "She almost came down here to see you guys. She really was worried."

Hotch didn't say anything, and although his face still wore that stern expression, Morgan could almost see the horrors he went through in his eyes. Morgan had seen the house, heard the doctors' reports on what happened, and he even talked to one of the monsters who did this, but Morgan knew there was so much more that Hotch and Reid needed to tell. He wasn't going to pester Hotch though. Hotch would tell him when he was ready.

"After everyone finishes eating, I'll tell them to come up so we can talk. Sound good?"

"I'd like to talk to the sheriff," Hotch said.

"What? Why would you want to do that?"

"Haven't seen him since all of this happened," Hotch said simply. "I'm still chief leader, and I would like to speak with him."

"Strauss has already been talking to him, and believe me, she is not happy. Pretty sure she was getting ready to kick some sheriff butt. Haley has been calling here too."

"Haley? How did she find out?"

"They mentioned it on the news. It just had some little segment, and she called up our very own Penelope Garcia to make sure it wasn't one of us. I don't know if she is coming down to see you, but Jack has been asking about you."

"What have you been telling him?"

"I haven't talked to him directly," Morgan said. "But I know Haley tells him you are fighting off all the monsters. He knows that his daddy will be coming home soon."

Hotch nodded, but Morgan saw the sadness in his eyes. Hotch wasn't going to let his guard down, even for a second, but it was obvious that he needed to cry. He was going to have to let it out sooner or later. It wouldn't be unlike Hotch to want to handle all of this on his own, but he couldn't this time. Morgan put his hand on Hotch's shoulder, but Hotch turned away.

"Hotch," Morgan said gently.

"You need to let Reid see Kate," Hotch said changing the subject.

"What?"

"I know none of you are going to ask my opinion or tell me what is going on now with the Bates woman, but you need to let Reid see the teacher. He wasn't there when she died, and the last time he saw her…I don't know what happened when Reid was locked up with Daniel and Kate's body. He wouldn't talk about it, but it wasn't anything good. You need to let him say goodbye."

Morgan still didn't think it was a good idea, and nothing Hotch could say would change his mind. It wouldn't be healthy for the kid to go hanging around the morgue when he was so close to ending up there himself. Both of them needed to go home, and never think about this God forsaken place again, but he wasn't going to tell this to Hotch. He wasn't going to say anything to upset the chief leader.

"I'll tell the others what you said, but Hotch," Morgan started to say.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Hotch said quickly.

Morgan stood up to help him, but Hotch held his hand up.

"I can do this myself," Hotch said.

"Are you sure?" Morgan asked glancing at the bandages around Hotch's wrists, and the cast containing his broken leg.

"I'm fine," Hotch said.

"Okay, just yell if you need me," Morgan said taking a step back. "Wonder if there is anything good on this TV."

He turned around, but watched Hotch go into the bathroom out of the corner of his eye. The door shut, and Morgan focused his attention on the television. Was it a bad idea to mention Jack? Hotch was so talkative until Morgan said Jack's name, and he didn't want Hotch worrying over what was going to happen with Reid. It wasn't good for his health.

Morgan flipped through the channels, and finally found one that looked relatively interesting. He was never really interested in fantasy shows, but this one did have an action side to it. He had no idea what was happening, but he saw one of the characters was dressed as some kind of officer and he was shooting at zombies. Morgan sat on the edge of the bed to watch the show, but it was hard paying attention with so many things buzzing through his mind. He couldn't even try to concentrate on the show until he heard the toilet flush. That meant everything went alright in the bathroom, and that was one less thing to worry about.

He was going to tell the team what Hotch said about the teacher. There wasn't any doubt in his mind about that, but it was his job to convince the others that it wasn't smart. Morgan was going to talk to Hotch's doctor the second he got in there. Once he knew how long Hotch needed to stay in the hospital, he could move on from there. As much as he wanted to be locked in Laura's cell for just one hour, she was in the legal system now. She wasn't worth his time or energy anymore. He would tell Strauss when they would be heading back, and he was sure that she would give Reid and Hotch as much time off as she could.

Morgan was watching the cop on the show grab his son and they were both running from the zombies when Morgan heard something crash in the bathroom. He immediately stood up. The show was the furthest thing from his mind.

"Hotch?"

When Hotch didn't answer, he went towards the bathroom door and knocked loudly on it. He heard water running, but nothing else.

"Hotch?"

He put his ear up to the door, but he couldn't hear anything other than the running of water. He couldn't hear any movement, and terrible images were already going through his mind. What was wrong? Why wasn't Hotch answering?

"If you say something Hotch, I'm coming in," Morgan shouted.

He waited for a moment, and when he still didn't hear anything, he shoved his shoulder against the door. He knew it was locked, and if he remembered, he would tell that doctor to move Hotch to a room without locks. He backed up, and shoved his shoulder back into the door and broke the lock. His shoulder hurt a little, but he barely noticed. He saw water on full blast coming out of the sink, but Hotch wasn't next to it. He saw the wheelchair next to the little shower, but Hotch was sitting in the corner shaking. He had his legs pulled up to his chest, and looked like he just saw a ghost. He had water in his hair and over his face.

"Hotch? Are you ok?"

"Stay back!" Hotch shouted. He scooted closer to the corner. "You aren't touching him again!"

"What?"

Morgan took a step forward and watched Hotch recoil in terror. He could just see some stuffed bear behind Hotch. Garcia probably left some toy in the bathroom to brighten Hotch's day, and while Morgan didn't understand completely, that resulted in Hotch having a PTSD episode. There was no question in Morgan's mind that this was what was happening. It all made sense, but Morgan couldn't pinpoint exactly what brought this on. It couldn't have been the toys. They were all over the bed, and he never had a problem with them. Was it the water?

"Go away!" Hotch shouted.

"Okay, okay," Morgan said backing up. He put both his hands in the air, and Hotch was watching his every move.

He backed against the wall, and got down so he seemed less threatening to Hotch. It was harder to see because Hotch was already wet, but he was crying. Morgan wanted to text the others. They needed to know what was happening, but he wasn't going to do it until Hotch was over this. It was hard to see him like this. Hotch was always the stone faced leader of their group, and now he was sitting in a corner sobbing. Morgan was determined to stay with his friend, no matter how long this took. He wanted to turn the damned sink off, but he was afraid to move. He wasn't going to upset Hotch more than he already was.

* * *

><p>Prentiss and J.J. both picked at the food that was set before them. Neither one of them were hungry, but Prentiss knew that Rossi would throw a fit if she didn't eat at least some of it. She really just wanted to talk about what they were going to do about Reid. She could see the pros and cons of each side of the argument, but Reid's mental health was what really was at stake. Would this help him or hurt him in the long run? She would have given anything for him to not be in that hospital bed. The others could tell her for the rest of her life that she didn't do anything wrong, but she couldn't help but blame herself. Why were Hotch and Reid taken? Why did they have to go through hell and back while all she had to do was get a cast on her arm? It didn't make any sense, and it probably never would.<p>

"Sure taking Morgan a while to get down here," J.J. commented.

"Well, it's good that Hotch is talking to anyone at all," Rossi said. "I was afraid that he was going to shut down entirely."

"Has he talked at all?" Prentiss asked. "I mean, about what happened. We got most of our information from the doctors and from that very interesting story Laura told us."

"Just little pieces of it from Spence," J.J. said. "I haven't really had the chance yet to talk to Hotch, but I never got a clear story."

"They will tell us in their own time," Rossi said pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Looks like our good old friend the sheriff is calling."

"Fantastic," J.J. said as she took a tiny bite out of her muffin.

"I'll put in on speaker phone," Rossi told them.

Prentiss didn't really care about what the sheriff had to say. If it had been up to him, Reid and Hotch would still be with that family. She took a drink out of her coffee, and looked out the window. She was glad to see the snow was finally letting up, but it still looked freezing out there.

"Hello sheriff," Rossi said. "Got you on speaker phone. Agents Prentiss and Jareau are here."

"Good morning agents," the sheriff grumbled on the other end. "Sorry for calling you like this, but I got some reporters askin questions. Not sure what to tell them so I called you. I don't have a lot of experience with these kinds of people. Thought it would be a good idea for one of you to talk to them so I can get rid of that barn. Hard to do with all these other folks walkin around."

"Have you said anything to them yet?" J.J. asked.

"No, I told them to wait for you guys," he said. "I figured you guys would want to come to see what's left of the barn anway."

"We'll be there soon," Rossi said hanging up the phone.

"Just going to tell the reporters that the public is no longer in any danger, and that those who were responsible are in custody. Don't know what is so hard about saying that," J.J. said.

"Sheriff isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed," Prentiss said with a smile.

Prentiss finished off her coffee, and Rossi was already getting started on his second glass when Garcia walked in. She had her green jacket on and a scarf around her neck like she had been outside. Where in the world had she been? She looked upset.

"Garcia?" J.J. asked. "You ok?"

"The parents of that teacher are in town for her body," Garcia said slowly. "If boy genius is going to see her, it has to be today."

"Wait," Rossi said standing up. "You were at the morgue?"

"They were really upset," Garcia answered. "I feel so bad for them. The father could barely stand up."

J.J. stood up, and wrapped her arms around the visibly upset Garica. She sniffled, and grabbed some tissue out of her purse for her nose. All of this was really taking a toll on the technology goddess. She wasn't used to any of this. The security of her computers was gone, and the harshness of the world was crashing down around her. Prentiss was surprised she was holding out so well.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Garcia told them. She left without telling them why she was at the morgue or what else happened there.

"Well, this changed all the plans for the day," Rossi said sitting back down. "I think if Reid wants to see the teacher so badly, we should let her."

"What would happen if he had a panic attack?" Prentiss asked. She knew the others didn't want to think about it, but that was a very real possibility. "Or if he fell and ripped up one of his stitches? The morgue isn't exactly close, and it would be dangerous driving fast on those roads."

"I can come along," a voice behind her said.

All three of them turned around, and saw Reid's doctor standing there in a large jacket. He wore a scarf that didn't match the jacket, and his eyes were hidden behind a huge pair of glasses.

"Spencer told me he was going to the morgue today, and I wasn't going to let him go alone. I'm not going to see any of the bodies or to do anything to disrupt your investigation. I will just be there as a precaution."

"I guess not all of us need to go," J.J. said.

"I'll go see the sheriff with you," Rossi told J.J. "I guess Morgan is spending some time with Hotch, and Garcia really needs to rest. Would you mind going with them to the morgue Prentiss?"

Prentiss wasn't keen on going, but she would go for Reid. She knew that he would have done the same for her. It made her sick just thinking about the baby of their team lying in a hospital bed with mental scars that would last a lifetime. She could never take away his memories of that place, but she was going to do her best to help him move past them.

"Of course," Prentiss asked.

"I'll text Morgan to let him know what is happening," Rossi said reaching for his phone. "Wouldn't want him coming down here and wondering where everyone went."

Prentiss glanced towards the elevators, but he wasn't anywhere in sight. What were those two talking about up there? She didn't think anything bad was happening, but he wasn't usually gone for this long. She didn't see Hotch's doctor walking around either, but she was sure he had other patients. Still, Morgan would have wanted to be in on the discussion about what was going to happen with Reid.

"Maybe I'll just go check on him," Prentiss said standing up. "I left my jacket up there anyway."

"Okay," J.J. said. "I'll meet you outside Rossi. Just going to check in on Garcia."

Rossi nodded, and Prentiss watched him walk towards the exit. Dr. Gable was checking his phone, and J.J. was already by the bathrooms so Prentiss went to the elevators. There were other people in the hospital, but it was still pretty much desolate. The hospital wasn't located in the same town that the Bates family were from, but something about the place still gave her the creeps. It was probably one of the oldest buildings in the entire state, and while parts of the hospital had been redone, there was no denying how old it was.

She found her jacket in the TV room where they were talking earlier. She grabbed it, and made her way to Hotch's room. She saw a few nurses working at the station, but she couldn't spot any other guests or patients walking around but her. She suspected if this place was ever really busy, it would be around the holidays which were right around the corner. The door to Hotch's room was partially opened so she peaked inside to make sure they weren't having a deep conversation that she would be interrupting.

Prentiss heard the television on. She couldn't tell what the show was, but there sure was a lot of shouting on it. She was craning her neck so she could look at the bed when she spotted Morgan sitting on the bathroom floor. His knees were bent up, and his gun was in front of his feet. He was looking at her from the corner of his eye, but he didn't say anything. That is when she heard the sobbing. Morgan's gaze left her, and she knew what was happening.

"I'm not going to let you touch him!" Hotch shouted.

There was a sink on full blast somewhere near Morgan, but it wasn't hard to hear the desperate cries coming from the chief leader. All of them were so concerned about Reid. He was still their youngest, and this wasn't his first abduction from his team. His injuries were all much worse than what Hotch went through, but there was no denying the mental anguish that Hotch was going to have to face. In some ways, this would be worse than what Reid experienced. He was always going to have to live with what he was forced to do to the boy genius.

Prentiss didn't say anything. Going in there would probably make the situation worse. She quietly backed away from the door and down the hallway. She stuck her cell phone in her jacket, and headed towards the elevators. She wasn't going to tell the others. She would let Morgan do that. Telling them that Hotch was sobbing in a corner wasn't going to do anyone any good, but she did agree with what the team was saying. Hotch and Reid needed to get out of that hospital and go home.

* * *

><p>Rickie wandered through the Bates house without any real purpose. He supposed there were other things he could be doing, but how many chances did one get to walk through a house like this? He didn't know how many people lost their lives there, and while it was tragic in every sense of the word, it was also very interesting. Nothing stood out about the house to make it seem different than any other building in the town. The floor boards felt unsteady underneath his feet every time he took a step, but he couldn't spot a single family photo anywhere. There wasn't even one. No framed photos decorated the walls, and the little fridge in the kitchen had nothing on it but a few mismatched magnets. While Rickie was rarely included in family photographs, every foster family he lived with had photos all over the place. Rickie wasn't a profiler, and he didn't think he could ever even qualify as an agent when he was older, but he thought it was easy to spot that something was wrong with the Bates family.<p>

Officers were all over the place taking photos and gathering evidence, but it didn't look like the house had been touched since Laura was arrested. There was enough blood by the front door to make Rickie's stomach hurl, and the kitchen smelled like rotting meat. He bit his lip down to keep himself from hurling. He was sure that if it was summer time, there would be flies everywhere by now with all the doors wide open, but he didn't see any bugs. It was too cold outside for most bugs to venture from their tiny homes. Rickie saw what looked like ketchup on the kitchen table, and it hard to ignore the blood smears on the tile floor. The police seemed to be focusing on the freezer and on the boys' bedroom. They kept moving in and out of those two rooms so Rickie chose to stay in the kitchen to be out of the way. He held onto the table for support when he noticed his shoe lace was untied. He tied it quickly, but he when he stood back up, he felt something on his hand. He figured it was ketchup until he got a good look at it. He held his finger up to the sunlight peering in from the window, but he didn't need the light to tell him it was blood. He could smell it, and while there was a lot of ketchup on that table, there was also blood. It was dried, but it was definitely there. He couldn't imagine what happened on the table was anything worse than what went on in the freezer, but the officers should know.

He scribbled his findings down in his notepad, and looked around for a cop that didn't look too busy. He found a female officer standing outside by one of the bulldozers. She was just watching the sheriff struggle to deal with the reporters surrounding him. He hurried out there, and presented the notepad to her before she could say anything. She looked surprised, but she read over the note. Rickie didn't know her. He saw her around town a few times, but she was never in the jail, especially when prisoners were there. Sheriff Bill thought it was too dangerous for women to be there. Rickie never thought to ask him why he thought it was alright for teenagers to be in there then.

"Which table?" she asked him. She moved her mouth slowly so he would be able to read her words, but it didn't matter as much as people thought it would. He had been reading lips most of his life.

He motioned for her to follow him, and she started putting gloves over her hands as she followed him inside. He led her to the table, and pointed out the blood to her. She dabbed her finger in it, and he could tell by her face that she was shocked. Everybody just assumed the grossness on the table was just ketchup and rotting meat. She told something to her walkie talkie, and Rickie backed out of the room.

"Are you going?" Rickie turned around to see her talking to him.

He shrugged, and went back into the family room. There was a dirty couch facing the television, and Rickie saw more blood over the carpet. If the walls around him could talk, they would be able to tell one of the most terrifying stories the world had ever heard. He was going to wander around outside when he saw a mouse scurry across the floor. He turned around to see where the little guy was going, and his eyes followed the furry creature underneath the sofa. Rickie got on his knees to make sure the mouse didn't get caught in anything when he saw some clothing underneath the couch. He pulled them out, and found several shirts and pants. They were all stained with blood, and while a few of them looked like they would fit the boys that once lived there, most of them were worn by boys much younger.

Rickie stood back up as fast as he could. He felt his heart pounding in his chest, and he couldn't shake the feeling inside him that something bad was going to happen. He wanted to leave. He never wanted to step inside the Bates house again. He was backing up when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he jumped.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," the female officer told him. "Didn't mean to scare you like that."

Rickie let his breath out, and rolled his eyes. He felt stupid for getting so nervous like that.

"What's over there? Did you find something?"

Rickie scribbled in his notepad that he found the clothes deep under the couch. She picked up one of the shirts, and read the name inscribed on the town.

"Says Daniel Bates," she told him.

It was a smaller blue shirt with red stripes on it. Looked like it could belong to somebody in first grade. The front of it looked alright, but the back of the shirt was ripped and red.

"Agents were right," she said looking in Rickie's direction but not at him. "The Bates boys were beaten growing up. There was extreme child neglect and abuse going on right under our noses."

Rickie looked at his feet when he saw tears forming in the cop's eyes. She tossed the shirt back with the others, and stood in front of Rickie.

"Sheriff called the agents a while ago to tell them about the reporters out there," she said slowly. "I'll show them the clothes the second they get here. Don't think there is anything they can do now to help, but if that woman was involved in hurting those children, she needs to rot."

Rickie nodded, but he couldn't be in there anymore. He felt like he was going to puke. He turned around when the cop was looking at the bloody clothes some more, and he saw a familiar black SUV pulling up outside. The sheriff was already running over to them before they were out of the car. Agent Rossi sat in the driver's seat. Rickie zipped up the jacket he was wearing to the top, and snuck out the door in the kitchen without anyone seeing him.

_already got some of the next chapter planned out so that's pretty exciting. plz review and let me know if there is anything else that u guys wanna see in this lovely story b4 I stop writing n it for the last time. I am pretty sure there is going 2 b one last bang n the story but it will b awsum lo. till next time my faithful and perfect readers. xoxoxoxoxo_


	33. Chapter 33

_so lots of you already know about the little writing dilemma I was n. I couldn't figure out what 2 do with rickie. I mean, its true that most characters n this story you will never hear from again like Aubrey's family, but since rickie did have a bigger role, I just couldn't have him fade n2 the background sumwhere. so I had the first half of this chapter written, but I had 2 wait for my muse to tell me what I should do about rickie and it came 2 me in the shower. I wasn't even thinking about it and ya. now I know. so thank u muse. and it is all working out perfectly so lemme know what u guys think_

Garcia felt like crying. She felt terrible for what Kate's parents were going through, and while she knew she wasn't at fault, she couldn't help but blame herself. Kate's dad just looked so devastated, and all of this was finally taking a strong toll on Garcia. She couldn't get to the bathroom fast enough. She splashed some cold water in her face, and watched some of her mascara drain off her face. She felt like a little girl again, and she wanted to hide in her closet. She wanted all of the bad things to go away, and for the bad people to go to jail forever.

"Garcia," J.J. asked from the doorway. "Can I come in?"

Garcia wiped the water from her face, and she sniffled her nose. She didn't want to be crying in a public place. She just couldn't help it.

"Sure," Garcia said through her sniffles.

"Are you okay?" J.J. asked coming up behind Garcia. She put a hand on Garcia's shoulder, and she just started crying heavier.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Garcia whined. "I was at the morgue, and it was scary there. I mean, it was colder in there and there was this stillness in the air that gave me the creeps. And then the teacher's parents were there, and you should have seen what her dad looked like. I mean, even before he was crying, there was this broken look about him and I didn't know what to say. Sorry that your daughter is dead? She was their only kid, and now she is gone forever and they never got to say goodbye."

"Garcia, they know you didn't do anything," J.J. said softly.

"I know they knew that, but when the dad was sobbing on my shoulder, all I could see was the dead body on the stairs. I mean, I was right there with the principal when she found it. Kate was sprawled out on those stairs, and she was someone's baby. They raised her. They gave her dollies for her birthday and got up every morning to take her to school and stayed up late every night to help her with her homework. All of their love and hard work and dedication ended like this. And it's so sad, and this was almost Hotch. And Reid. It could have been us crying in that morgue instead of happy in the hospital."

"I know, I know," J.J. said. "They could have died, but they didn't. They are here, and they are safe. I know it's scary, but Laura Bates is locked up forever and the rest of the family is dead. They can't hurt anyone anymore, and you helped do that. We couldn't save the teacher, but we made sure that no more lives are lost."

"That won't take away the pain her parents are feeling," Garcia between her sniffles. "I mean, they even killed the dog. Her parents have nothing left of her. It's like she never existed to anyone but them."

"That's not true," J.J. said. "She has several diaries that the sheriff found, and I heard she was very fond of photography. Her legacy will live on, and she will always be with her parents. I'm sure Reid will feel her too if he needs to."

"Do you really think it's a good idea for him to see her? I didn't look at her body while I was there. They asked me to and I said no."

"Garcia, why were you at the morgue?" J.J. asked after a short pause.

"Please don't tell anyone," Garcia said looking back at her reflection in the mirror.

"I won't," J.J. said.

"I just paid for Daniel's casket. And burial. And burial suit. I don't know why Reid was so attached to him, but since he was, he couldn't have been all bad. If Reid trusted him, I do too."

"Wait, what?" J.J. asked. "You did all of that and you don't want to tell Reid?"

"No," Garcia whispered. "Please don't tell him."

"Why not?"

"Please don't tell him," Garcia begged. She didn't know why she didn't want Reid to know who did the good deed. She just wanted him to feel better without feeling obliged to thank someone or pay them back.

"You know I won't," J.J. said smiling.

Garcia turned around and hugged tightly onto J.J. She didn't want to let go. She wanted to believe that if she hugged J.J. tight enough, all of this would go away. The teacher would be teaching something her students hated, Hotch would be looking over the next case, and Reid would be reading his newest book. Garcia would be sleeping in her warm bed with her face smashed against her beloved pillow. She would be dreaming about pink kitties and everything would be perfect.

* * *

><p>Rossi hated driving in the snow, and while it hadn't snowed since last night, the roads were still slippery. He drove slowly, and his eyes never left the road. He didn't even try checking his phone at stops like he usually did, and J.J. didn't say much during their way to the house. Rossi had the radio on just so he could hear more than the ice under their wheels.<p>

"What are you planning on telling the reporters when we get there?" Rossi asked.

"Not sure yet. I kinda wanted to see how the sheriff was handling it," J.J. said smiling. "He seems like a people person."

"Just the kind of person you want to bring home with you to meet mom," Rossi said.

"Hope Morgan is okay," J.J. said looking at her phone. "Haven't heard from him since he went with Hotch. Do you think something happened?"

"Well, haven't had any phone calls from the doctor," Rossi said. He did think it was strange that Morgan wasn't calling them, but he was more worried about what he would find at the Bates house or what was going to happen at the morgue with Reid. Rossi did wish he could have gone with them, but that probably would have made Reid more nervous. He would do more good at the house with J.J.

He parked the SUV next to the other cars, and just as he opened his door, the sheriff was at his side. Rossi could see the remains of the barn from where he sat, and just as he thought, there were reporters everywhere. It seemed like more came at every minute. Who told the media about what happened? He was sure the second they heard about a psychopathic family with homicidal tendencies, they came running over. Hollywood couldn't write things like this.

"Morning sheriff," Rossi said.

"See what I have to deal with?" Bill asked him.

"When did they start coming?" J.J. asked circling around the car.

"About an hour ago," Bill said putting his hand to his head. "I just told them I couldn't say nothing until you guys got here."

"Surprised that held them back," J.J. said.

"What kinds of questions were they asking you?" Rossi said. He wanted to be prepared for anything.

"Most of the questions were about that damned family, but a few of the vultures asked about the agents. Don't ask me who told them because I don't know."

"Stories like this can't stay hidden for long," J.J. commented. "It could have even been one of the family members that lost someone. They heard about the arrest, called their family, and the word got out."

"Well, let's get this over with," Rossi said.

The sheriff turned towards the reporters, and Rossi heard his boots crunching in the snow. J.J. took a deep breath and followed him. Rossi locked the car, and that's when he saw a female officer running towards them from the house. J.J. saw the woman too, and she stopped.

"Agents?" she called out.

Rossi held out his hand, and she shook it when she reached him.

"Hi, I'm Officer Taylor," she said out of breath. "Don't think we've met yet."

"I don't think so," Rossi said.

"We found something interesting inside," she told them. "Nobody else knows yet. I thought you guys would want to see it first."

"What is it?" J.J. asked.

"Just evidence to confirm your theories," she said.

Rossi shrugged at J.J., but he followed behind the officer. The woman was in her mid-30s with her light brown hair pulled into a tight bun on her head. It was funny that he never saw her before with the other officers, but the more he thought about it, it made sense. The sheriff was a racist man so why wouldn't he also be sexist? This man had to be raised underneath a rock.

Police tape was everywhere. Rossi noted that every single officer in there was male, and while it wasn't exactly surprising that a small town like this would have an almost exclusive male police force, it was still sad. This town seemed to hate both women and anyone else who wasn't born and raised there. Officer Taylor led them in through the front door and straight into the kitchen where a putrid smell made Rossi cover up his nose.

"Sorry," she said when she saw his reaction. "Guess we're all used to it by now."

"What is all this about Taylor?" the sheriff asked in a loud voice. Rossi never saw Bill follow them, but he was here now and didn't look happy.

"It was pointed out to me earlier that not all of this is ketchup like we once thought sheriff," Taylor said. "There's dried blood all over this table."

Rossi looked closer, and once he was able to get over the sickening smell, he noticed it too. Blood did look different than ketchup did, regardless of what Hollywood tried to convince audiences to believe.

"Most of the blood seems to be in the same general area," Rossi noted.

"Like from a rape," J.J. commented.

"That's what I thought," Taylor said. "I will get this blood tested as soon as I can. We can find out what happened here."

Rossi saw J.J. staring at him, and he knew what she was thinking just by the look on her face. He was fearful at first too when he saw the blood, but he was sure it didn't belong to Reid. He didn't know who was raped on that table, but a little voice in his head kept telling him the blood didn't come from the baby of their team.

"And then there's over here," Taylor said.

Rossi stayed at her back with J.J. beside him. The sheriff was the last one to leave the kitchen area, and he wasn't looking too happy at this new discovery. Taylor led them to the living room, and dropped on her knees in front of the couch. Rossi bent down next to her, and saw two tee shirts already pulled out. From where he was, he could see a lot more still hidden underneath the ugly sofa.

"Children's shirts," Taylor said. "I haven't had a lot of time to look through them all, but that one says Daniel Bates on the tag."

"This just proves that they were beaten while they were growing up," J.J. said.

Rossi put on a glove before he picked up one of the shirts. The child who was wearing this shirt was beaten with some kind of whip. He put it back down almost as quickly as he picked it up. There wasn't anything funny about child abuse, and he couldn't help but blame the sheriff for not protecting these children until it was too late. If he wasn't too busy trying not to hire women or playing cards with his deputies, he might have been able to save Joseph and Daniel. He might have been able to stop any of this before it even started.

"When were you going to tell me about this?" Bill asked.

"What?" Taylor asked looking up.

"I said, when were you going to tell me about all of this?" Bill asked louder.

"Well, sir," she started.

"Thank you for showing us this," J.J. cut her off.

"It's very sad what happened here," Rossi said standing back up.

"Officer Annie Taylor, I'm going to want to speak to you when I get back to the station," the sheriff said in a very stern voice.

"Yes sir," she said looking down.

Rossi wanted to walk away. He wanted to pretend that he didn't hear the sheriff with the beer belly scolding a woman for doing her job, but he couldn't. He never thought he could hate an entire town before, but it was beginning to look that way. It was hard to believe that towns like this still existed where women were still treated like second class citizens, where only one religion was acceptable, and where out of town visitors were treated like the fleas that brought about the black plague.

"Wait a minute," Rossi said turning around. "What are you going to talk to her about? Are you going to congratulate her or give her a raise?"

"This really doesn't concern you," Bill said.

"Oh, but it does," Rossi spat out.

"She doesn't need to go around telling the FBI things that I don't even know about yet," Bill said. "I don't like surprises, and she has always been good at that."

"You would sure hate my job," Rossi replied. "I get surprises daily, and didn't you tell her to find out what she could about this house? What did you expect her to do? You certainly weren't expecting her to actually find new evidence so were you thinking that she was going to get a mop out and start straightening up around here? I will admit that this house needs work, and women are really only good for cleaning. Isn't that right sheriff?"

"Annie, I'll meet you back at the station," Bill said.

Annie Taylor nodded, and she left in a hurry. Bill never dropped his gaze from Rossi, but Rossi wasn't afraid of him.

"You do your job Mister FBI man and I'll do mine," Bill said.

"Maybe if you did your job right, I wouldn't have to say anything," Rossi argued.

Sheriff Bill held his ground for another few seconds, but finally backed off. Rossi was afraid that Taylor was going to lose her job when she got to the station, but if that happened, Rossi was sure he could find her a better job. He already had a list of places in mind that would hire her in a second with his recommendation.

"We have to say something to those vultures outside," Bill said.

"We?" J.J. asked.

"I'm going to need your help ma'am," Bill said slowly looking at his feet. "I don't normally deal with the press. I never deal with the press. We never get stories like this. Ever."

"Are you sure I'm qualified enough?" J.J. asked.

Rossi thought it was good that the sheriff was finally getting a little taste of his own medicine, but he couldn't stop thinking about the blood on the table. While he was still certain that the blood on the table didn't come from Reid, it spoke volumes as to what happened in this house. How many other people were raped on that table? How many people died in this house? It spent shivers down his spine. Even before all those innocent men and women were rudely abducted, two little boys spent every day of their lives in fear of their father. It made Rossi sick.

* * *

><p>Laura kicked her water cup to the side of her cell. She was refusing to eat or drink anything, and nothing these pigs could do would make her. She wasn't hungry anyway. She couldn't stop thinking of where her boys could be. They couldn't be dead. Police don't shoot children. They were probably locked up in another prison, and she wasn't going to eat until she saw them again. She kept herself busy playing with her hair, cursing at any cop who walked by, and by listening to a couple on Maury argue with each other over an obviously unwanted child. She could never understand how a mother couldn't want her child. Laura always wanted her boys.<p>

There were only 2 officers on duty that afternoon, and the older one left to grab the lunch he left at home. That left her and the soulless ginger named Kyle in the stinking jail. Kyle was minding his own business for the most part. He ignored all of her threats, and even tried giving up the cup of water that ended up by her toilet. He was lucky that she didn't bite him. She thought about it, and she even lunged, but the bars prevented her teeth from reaching their goal. She was determined to bite him by the day's end. That was nowhere near the revenge she craved for the destruction of her family, but it was a start.

"I'm going to make you a deal," Kyle said turning the volume of the television down. She wasn't interested in any deals made by pigs.

"Bite me," she growled at him. She hoped she was scaring him.

"Are you going to listen to me or not? This is the only shot I'm giving you."

Laura didn't say anything. She wasn't going to beg for anything this cop had, but she was slightly interested in what he had to say. She doubted it was anything more interesting than the results of the paternity test on Maury.

"I have the keys to let you out of there in my hand," Kyle told her. He lifted up the keys so she could see, but she didn't need to see them. She wasn't an idiot. "I'll let you have these keys and your freedom if you do something for me."

"And what would that something be?" Laura asked. She didn't have much hope of him really letting her out of there, but why not play along with his little game? She had nothing else to do.

"I need you to kill someone," he said quietly.

"Ha!" she shouted. "Who you want me to kill mister cop man?"

"Be quiet!" he said looking behind his back, but the other pig hadn't come back yet. "I need you to kill the deaf kid. He's always in my fucking way. I'm trying to get myself a raise by doing all the little crap the sheriff wants me to do, ya know? I can't get shit done with goodie two shoes can't talk hanging around. He takes all the stupid jobs that no one else wants that would get me my raise. I need him gone, and doesn't have any family that would miss him."

"Then why don't you kill the little shit yourself?"

"Cuz I'm a cop," Kyle said.

Laura couldn't help but laugh. This was all just too perfect. Killing the mute would be easier than taking the money from the collection basket at church.

"I don't kill no kids," Laura told him, and that was true. She never killed a child. Her husband might have, and she was sure that her boys did, but Laura was innocent when it came to that.

"He's turning 18 in a few months," Kyle said quickly. "March I think."

"Here's the deal cutie pie," Laura said. She finally stood up and went over to the bars that Kyle was standing by. He took a step back when she got too close for comfort. "I kill the kid if you tell me where them agents are bein kept. I'm sure it's at some fancy hospital. Just tell me which one."

"You couldn't get anywhere close to them," Kyle said. "There are other agents there. I don't think you could even get in the building."

"Leave that to me," Laura said confidently. "Which one was in worse shape? The virgin? Well, he ain't no virgin no more."

"I don't know," Kyle said.

"I'll kill the virgin first so Hollywood can watch. A bullet in the head should do it," Laura said looking at Kyle's gun.

"Will you promise to leave town after?" Kyle asked tentatively.

"I guess," Laura said. She was sure to find her boys at the fancy hospital with the agents. She would just get her boys and leave. There was nothing more for them in this town.

Kyle made eye contact with her as he slowly unlocked her cell. He was probably afraid that she would jump him or something, but she had no reason to. She didn't even walk out until he got the key out of the lock.

"Make sure you kill the deaf kid first," Kyle reminded her. "I have his address written down here, but he is probably hanging around your house somewhere. He can't drive a car, and he doesn't have any friends so this should be easy for you. Just kill him, and leave his body in the woods. Nobody will notice he is even missing. He might have a few bucks in his pocket that you could use to catch a bus out of town."

She stuck the address in her dress pocket while Kyle continued talking. The paternity test on Maury revealed the man who knew nothing more than curse words was not the father of the baby girl. That was probably for the best.

"I'm going to bloody myself up a little so it looks like you broke out of here on your own," Kyle told her. "I only have 2 guns on me, but there's another one in the desk you can use. You can wear my red jacket over there. It's cold outside and it will help you blend in better. And shoes…"

Laura put the large red jacket on, and it covered up most of her dress. It was warm and she liked it. She decided that she was going to keep it. She put the guns he gave her in the pockets of the jacket, but held onto the smaller one she found in the desk. That was her favorite. That was the gun she wanted to kill Hollywood with.

"Here's a pair of shoes that old Henry left after one of his drunken sleepovers here last June. They're not much to look at, but they should keep your feet dry."

She stepped into the ugly old boots, and tied them as tight as she could. They were much too big, but she didn't care.

"Where are the agents at?"

"Saint John's," Kyle said. "It's not that far from here, but it is a bigger hospital than the one in town."

"And how many agents are there besides Hollywood and virgin?"

"I don't know. Maybe four?"

"Got it," she said glancing at the clock. It was already early afternoon.

"Please don't forget to kill Rickie first," Kyle reminded her.

"He'll be dead before you eat your lunch," she said. "I'll probably need his clothes too. My boys will need something to wear when they get out of that damned hospital."

Kyle didn't say anything, but he checked the time with his watch. It wouldn't be long before pig number two got back with his baloney sandwich. She hated baloney.

"You need anything else?"

"Give me that slice of pizza I wouldn't eat earlier. I'll take it to go," Laura told him. She didn't have any reason to deny food now, and she as hungry as a bear.

She watched him put a slice on a plate for her, but she couldn't believe all of this was really happening. She was free. She was a free woman again, and this time, she wasn't going to get caught. She was going to finish what her husband started. She knew he was still with her on some spiritual level, and he was going to keep her safe.

* * *

><p>Hotch couldn't get his heart beat to slow down, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't calm himself down. He couldn't catch his breath, and he was scared to death. How did he end up back in the freezer? He didn't remember any of it, but he was there. The last thing he remembered was Daniel dragging Reid off, but that didn't seem right. Reid was behind him, but he didn't look conscious. Hotch wanted to check on him, but he was afraid that Benjamin would attack when Hotch wasn't looking. He didn't know if Reid was already dead or not. The few moments he had to look at his young friend, he didn't look like he was breathing. Hotch refused to leave him though. He was never going to leave Reid alone again. If they wanted Reid, they were going to have go through him. His leg was burning, but he would die before Benjamin had Reid again.<p>

"What do you want? Please!" Hotch pleaded.

"I'm not going anywhere," Benjamin growled. Hotch couldn't figure out why Benjamin wasn't attacking already, but Hotch kept Reid shielded with his own body.

"Take me instead," Hotch begged. He felt the tears falling down his face. "Please. Do whatever you want with me. Just leave him alone."

"That's not Reid," Benjamin said.

Hotch put his hand behind his back to make sure Reid was still there. Reid's hair felt wet, and his forehead was burning up. Reid wasn't going to last much longer. Hotch repositioned himself just so Reid could have some room to breathe, but Hotch didn't hear anything. He didn't see Reid's chest raising and falling with each breath, and the inside of his open mouth looked like it was drying out. Hotch felt his heart start to race. Reid couldn't be dead. He couldn't.

He turned around to start giving Reid mouth to mouth when he saw Benjamin stand up out of the corner of his eye. Hotch got Reid on his back when something changed. Hotch couldn't put his finger on it, but something was different. Hotch looked away from Reid, just for a second, and saw Morgan standing by a little sink. What happened? He turned back around to look for Reid, but the boy genius was gone. All he could see was a stuffed animal on the tile floor.

"Morgan?" Hotch asked. His voice was cracking.

Morgan got on his knees next to Hotch, and tossed him a towel. Hotch couldn't catch it, but it landed on his lap. Hotch kept looking at the stupid stuffed animal, but it never changed to Reid.

"Are you okay?" Morgan asked. "Dry your hair."

Hotch put the towel up to his hair and started drying it. He was shaking all over, and his lips were cracking from being so dry. He couldn't understand what just happened. He knew Reid was there. He saw him. Was Hotch dying?

"What…what happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"No," Hotch said putting his hand up to his aching head.

"You're in the hospital," Morgan answered. "You were rescued a few days ago with Reid. Both of you are safe, and the Bates are gone."

"They're dead, right?"

"All of them except for Laura, and that woman will be locked up until she dies. Is it coming back to you now?"

"A little," Hotch said looking around. He was trying to remember the hospital, but he couldn't stop looking at the stuffed animal. Did he really think that was Reid just a few minutes ago? What was wrong with him?

"We need to get you back in that wheelchair," Morgan told him.

Hotch looked up, and noticed the wheelchair near the shower. He didn't remember falling out of it, but his leg was killing him. Morgan stood up, and offered his assistance with getting Hotch in the chair. Hotch took hold of Morgan's arms, and the other man lifted him easily.

"Can you please get rid of that bear?" Hotch asked weakly. He just felt so tired all of a sudden.

Morgan picked up the bear, but he was only away for a second. Morgan picked his gun up off the floor, and wheeled Hotch back into his room. Hotch recognized all of this for but a second, and then the memories were gone.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"What happened to me back there?" Hotch asked.

"I don't know exactly. You went to the bathroom, and when I found you, you were shouting at me from the floor. Do you remember doing that?"

"A little," Hotch said. "It's post-traumatic stress, isn't it?"

"I'm not sure, but it would seem that way. It looks like you hurt your leg when you fell. The doctor is right outside the door. I think he should take a look at it if you're up for it. If not, you should probably take a nap. It would help clear your head."

"Where's Reid?" Hotch suddenly asked. He knew what Morgan told him, but he wanted to make sure. What he saw just seemed too real for comfort.

"He's resting just like you should be," Morgan answered without a second thought.

"Can I have some water?" Hotch finally asked. He didn't feel like resting. He was too nervous to even think about sleeping, but he knew it would help him feel better.

Morgan reached over for the water on the side table, and Hotch sipped some out of a straw. The cold liquid did wonders for his dry tongue. Maybe he was just dehydrated. That could explain away this horrendous headache that refused to go away.

"I probably do need a nap," Hotch admitted. That would help his thoughts clear up. At the moment, he couldn't tell reality from his fantasy and it was killing him. He was used to talking to people suffering from this disorder. He had no idea what it was like to really have it, and now he knew this was one of the worst feelings he ever felt in his life.

Morgan helped him into his bed, and his throbbing leg was propped up. He didn't think he would be able to sleep like this, but his eyelids felt heavy the second his face touched the pillow.

"Morgan?"

"I'm not going anywhere," Morgan assured him. "I'll be right here when you wake up."

Hotch forgot what he wanted to ask him, but it didn't matter anymore. Hotch closed his eyes, and drifted into a place where nobody could hurt him. He saw his little boy playing catch with himself in an open field. Jack smiled and waved when he saw his daddy, and Hotch ran as fast as he could to be with his son. In his dreams, reality was far away.

* * *

><p>Reid sat in the backseat of Dylan's red car. Dylan tried explaining to them that it was one his wife picked out, but Reid was only half listening. He was scared to be seeing Kate again. He knew all of this was his idea, but he couldn't help but his heart was pounding. He didn't like morgues. He never liked them, and while he never openly objected to being in one, they always made him nervous. Seeing someone he tried so desperately to save in a morgue was another thought entirely, but he wasn't going to be talked out of it. He needed this. Prentiss and Dylan helped him out to the car, and while not much was said, he knew all eyes were on him. Prentiss sat in the front next to the doctor, but Reid couldn't focus on any conversation.<p>

"Reid?"

"What?" Reid looked away from the picturesque scene outside and looked ahead at Prentiss. She was looking at him with a concerned expression written across her face.

"I was just asking how you felt," Prentiss said. "You look pale."

"I'm fine," Reid answered. "Are we almost there?"

"Yeah," Dylan said. "We would be there already, but I'm driving slower because of the slippery roads. The last thing any of us need is a car accident."

"Agreed," Prentiss said.

Reid went back to looking out the window, and he faintly heard Prentiss and Dylan discussing why he became a doctor in the background. Reid would ask him the same question later if he remembered it, but he forgot all rational thought as soon as the morgue came into view. It was a little building right off the main road. There weren't any other buildings around it, and if the mortician decided to look out the window, all he would see was old pine trees covered in snow. It wasn't the worst sight in the world, but it didn't look like this building ever saw any sun. Even in the summer, those trees would block out any light. Reid was sure if he kept looking, he would find an abandoned cemetery nearby.

Dylan parked his car next to a white one already in the tiny parking lot. Reid assumed this belonged to the man who was working in there. Other than that, the place was empty.

"We don't have to do this today if you're not up for it," Prentiss said.

"I'm fine," Reid told her.

He unlocked his seatbelt, and as much as he hated it, he had to be helped out of the car. His legs still didn't want to listen to him. Prentiss held him steady while they walked inside. Dylan was close by with a wheelchair ready. Prentiss got him to a chair, and he sat down while she looked around the mortician.

Reid didn't like how it was decorated. The walls were a dark purplish looking color, and the paintings hung on the walls did nothing to cheer the place up. There was an ocean crashing against a lighthouse in the dead of night, and what was supposed to be a beautiful meadow was truly haunting with its dark stream disappearing behind a black mountain. Reid looked instead at the 13 fish that were swimming around in their tank by the front desk. They were all pretty colors, but why were there 13 of them? It seemed like a random number.

An older man stepped out of the back room, and looked shocked to see his new visitors.

"May I, um, help you miss?" he asked Prentiss.

"Yes, we are here to see Kate Parker," Prentiss told him. "My friend here in particular, Agent Spencer Reid."

"Oh, oh yes. I've been told he might stop by," the man said pleasantly. "Her parents just left not that long ago. Let me go get her set up. It won't be but a moment."

"If you start to feel light headed or anything, just call my name," Dylan told Reid.

"We'll just wait out here," Prentiss said.

"Thank you," Reid said in a voice that he didn't recognize. He was trying his best not to let the others not know how terrified he was about doing this. What if it did set him back? What if he was pulled back into the nightmares he experienced in that freezer?

The door creaked open, and the older man stepped out. He pulled a pair of rubber gloves off his hands, and held the door open for Reid. Reid stood up, and used the walls to hold him up. He was going to be able to say goodbye to her on his own two feet.

"She's ready," the mortician said. "Just go straight through the double doors. You can't miss it."

Reid nodded, and stepped through the door. He paused for a moment to make sure he wasn't going to fall, and when he didn't, he kept on walking. It was cold in the waiting area, but it was even colder in the back. He gently pushed open the swinging doors, and saw the room the man told him about. The far wall was lined up with silver boxes that Reid guessed were the freezers to store the bodies in. There were a few carts on wheels against the opposite wall, and directly in front of him were 3 tables in a row. The first and the last table appeared to be empty, but the one in the middle was the one Kate was in.

He willed his wobbly legs to take the first step into the room, and he did fall the second his hand left the wall's support, but he got up quickly. Once he was certain his balance was back, he took baby steps to the middle table. Once he was there, he used it for the support he needed. He walked around the front of the table, and stopped. The white sheet covering her up was pulled up just past her chest. Reid felt for her hand underneath the sheet, and when he found out, he uncovered that as well. Her hand was stiff, and while the mortician did do an amazing job of covering up the flaws, Reid was still able to spot the deep scratches she got from being tied up.

Reid took a deep breath, and when he was positive that he was ready, he opened his eyes to see her face. She didn't look like herself, but he guessed he couldn't expect her to. Her white skin was coated in some kind of makeup that was meant to cover up the extensive injuries to her face, and while it was doing its job, it was impossible not to see the dent where the crowbar crashed into her skull. Her hair looked like it was recently washed, her lips were shiny with some kind of chap stick, and her body had the faint aroma of flowers. She wasn't unlike all of the bodies that he saw in morgues from his past, but she just wasn't some random victim of a tragic case. This was Kate. This was the woman that he tried so hard to save. He kept telling her that he was going to get her out of the living hell they were both in. Telling himself that there was nothing more than he could have physically done to save her wasn't enough for him.

He collapsed on the floor in a fit of tears, but he never let go of her hand. He was half expecting Prentiss to come running in to save him from the monstrous floor, but she never came. Nobody came to drag him away from Kate.

"I'm so sorry," he choked out. "I wasn't there, and I'm sorry. I'd give anything to go back and save you. You didn't need to die. I should have been the one that Joseph took away."

He held her hand tight while the tears just fell down his face. His nose was clotting, and the sudden fall sent sharp pains up his chest, but he didn't care. The only thoughts running through his mind was how the woman on that table was begging him to save her and he couldn't. He would be going home soon enough. He would see his mother again, and go back to work like he always did, but Kate wouldn't be able to do that. All of the little things he took for granted were all gone for Kate, and he was having trouble understanding why. Why did she have to die? Why couldn't Reid have saved her?

"I'm so sorry," Reid cried out. "So sorry."

Repeating those words over and over again was doing nothing for Kate. Reid believed that she was in a better place, but she was needed here. It was his fault that Joseph took her away. Reid was stronger than she was, and he just let her go anyway. He brought her frozen hand to his face and let the tears drop. He would give almost anything to put the clock in reverse. He was wishing against all hope that Kate would start stirring, wake herself up, and walk out of there. He wanted her to tell him that all of this was just some terrible dream, and that she was safe in the hospital with him, but she wasn't. All of this was really happening. She was brutally murdered just moments after Reid promising her that he would save her. Reid leaned to one side and puked up the little food he ate earlier that morning.

* * *

><p>Annie was mumbling to herself on the way back to her car. She took her light brown hair out of the ponytail she had it up in, and shook her head until her hair fell neatly at her shoulders. She didn't care if Bill yelled at her for that. She was positive she already lost her job so it didn't really matter at this point. She threw her cap against a pine tree which was probably going to add to the list of reasons of why Bill was firing her. She didn't care, and she had no plans of retrieving that ugly hat. She was done kissing his ass.<p>

She turned up the heat in her car as soon as it was turned on. The snow outside looked like it was starting to melt, but this was one of the worst winters she could remember having. It wasn't even December yet, and she saw quite a few people in town sporting hideous Christmas sweaters. She didn't own one. She refused to spend her hard earned money on crap like that. She was buckling her seat belt when her phone started ringing.

"Taylor," she said answering it.

"Good, glad you picked up," Tony said from the other line.

"What is it?"

"Is the sheriff around?" Tony asked.

Of course this phone call was for somebody else. Tony called Taylor on her cell phone to ask to speak to fat Bill. She could see him from her rear view window. It looked like he was finally getting the courage to confront the swarms of reporters outside the Bates house.

"Why would you call me if you want to talk to him?" Taylor asked.

"I did. He's not answering his phone."

"Ok, what's the problem?"

"Ok well, I left my lunch at my house today so when lunch break rolled around, I was pretty much starving. I don't carry cash on me so I run home to get my lunch. Leftovers from what the wife made last night. Kyle was here watching Laura Bates. Anyway, to make a long story short. I was only gone for a few minutes. When I got back, Kyle is covered in blood and the prisoner is gone."

"Wait, what did you say?"

"Laura Bates broke out of jail. Kyle hasn't told me much, but it looks like she has at least 3 guns on her. I have a doctor coming out to check on Kyle, but he isn't gravely wounded."

"Laura broke out of jail and she is armed?"

"Correct."

"I'll be there soon," Annie said turning off her engine.

Annie looked around and spotted the two FBI agents standing in front of their vehicle. They were probably waiting for their turn to address the reporters, but this was much more important. She ran as fast as she could to them, and managed to stop the young blonde before she could her statement. Both of them looked surprised when she reached them.

"You should probably hear what I'm going to tell you before you talk to them," Annie said quickly. She kept looking at Sheriff Bill, but he was too busy to even notice her.

"What is it?" J.J. asked. "Looks like you just saw a ghost."

"Laura Bates escaped," Annie said without getting into any details.

"What?" Agent Rossi shouted.

"She escaped from jail, and she is armed."

"Are you sure?" J.J. asked.

"One of the officers back at the station just called me," Annie explained. "They wouldn't make up anything like this."

"Get in the SUV," Rossi ordered. "You are riding with us."

Annie opened the back door to get in when she heard shouting behind her. Sheriff Bill finally saw the three of them talking, and was coming at them as fast as he could.

"What the hell is going on here?" he shouted at them.

"Get in the car Taylor," Rossi told her. She obeyed and got in the backseat of their SUV. She saw Rossi arguing with the sheriff, and while she couldn't hear what was being said, she was pretty sure the FBI agent was winning the argument. How could Laura possibly get out of jail? Even if she did jump Kyle, he was much bigger than she was. It didn't make sense. She was positive that Mrs. Bates would be going after the agents in the hospital. Laura probably didn't know which hospital, but she was nervous. There was a crazy lady out there with guns, and she knew the forest better than most people who lived there. Laura could probably stay hidden out there for weeks if she wanted to, and that was terrifying.

_big showdown coming. u guys excited? me is lol. hopefully, I can start writing it tonight an we'll see what happens. as long as my mom doesn't start bugging me about how im not getting paid to write so I should never ever do it. its a shame really but what can ya do? plz review my lovely friends. it makes me happy and my birthday is right around the corner. its the day after matthew gray gubler's birthday which is the same day as paget Brewster. so yay!_


	34. Chapter 34

_hey everyone. coming to the end of the story now which is always super sad but it was been fun. this chapter pretty much wrote itself so maybe the next chapter will do the same. I wanted 2 get this chapter up yesterday on my birthday, and while it was kinda done then, it wasn't really done. haha. but its cool. so its 2 days after Matthews birthday and one day after my birthday and paget's birthday lol. pisces really is the coolest zodiac sign ever. so anyways, here is the chapter =)_

Rossi's blood was boiling. Everything seemed to be going so well. Hotch and Reid were finally on the road to recovery, and things were starting to wrap up with this case. How could they let Laura escape? What kinds of people was Sheriff Bill hiring? The men working there knew how dangerous she was. It didn't make any kind of sense that she could just run away like that. Even if Laura did get the cop's gun, the officer should have easily been able to take her down. Laura was sadistic, and she would stop at nothing to get her way, but she wasn't able bodied enough to physically overpower a trained officer.

"What the hell is going on here?" Sheriff Bill shouted at them.

"Get in the car Taylor," Rossi told the female officer. She did as he said, and he turned around the face the sheriff. All of this was his fault, and Rossi wasn't afraid to let him know that.

"I recommend you tell those reporters to leave," Rossi said.

"Why in the name of Jesus is she in your car?" Bill asked.

"We are going back to the station to find out why your officers found it too difficult to keep a middle aged woman behind bars."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," the sheriff said looking back at the anxious reporters. "What are you talking about?"

"Just got a phone call from one of your boys back at the station, "Rossi said. "Seems like two grown men couldn't keep Laura Bates locked up. I don't know the details since I was here with you, but she is on the loose and armed."

"She's out of jail?" Bill asked.

"That's what I said, and your no good female officer was the first one to find out besides the two winners that let this happen. We are going down to the station right now, but if I were you, I would stop focusing on the paparazzi out there and try to find Bates before she kills someone else. If she manages to lay one finger on Agents Hotchner or Reid, it will be me that you answer to. Got it?"

"Don't do dare threaten me Agent," Bill growled back.

"Oh, I'm not threatening. I was just offering pleasant conversation the same as you were offering Taylor earlier."

Rossi got into the car while the sheriff stood dumbstruck only feet away from several live rolling cameras. J.J. jumped into her seat, and Rossi got them out of there. He smiled when he looked in his rearview mirror and saw the sheriff still standing in the same position, but his smile disappeared seconds later. Rossi would never tell J.J. or their new friend in the back seat how scared he really was. How long had Laura been missing? Did she know what hospital Reid and Hotch were at? Rossi was sure Morgan could handle the redneck woman, but that wouldn't calm down his beating heart. What if Laura knew that Reid was going to be out of the hospital today at the morgue? He pulled out his cell phone, and dialed Prentiss. He put her on speaker phone, and he prayed Reid wasn't listening nearby.

"Prentiss," she said answering her phone.

"Hey, it's Rossi and J.J.," Rossi said. "Where's Reid?"

"He's still in with the teacher," Prentiss said. "He hasn't been back there too long, but I think everything is fine. Is something wrong?"

"Laura Bates escaped from jail," Rossi said as calmly as possible. "Don't tell Reid, but we know that she is armed and she's angry."

"Does she know where we are?" Prentiss asked. There was a new alarm that was in her voice, and Rossi was sure that Reid would be able to tell.

"I don't know. We are on our way to the sheriff's station now to find out, but don't let Reid out of your sight. You can tell the doctor too. The more eyes that are looking out for Laura, the better. I'll text you as soon as I find out anything."

"Does Morgan know yet?"

"I was just about to call him," Rossi said. "We are almost at the station now, but please; don't let Reid out of your sight. Laura isn't exactly on the bright side, but she won't be afraid to shoot."

"I know, I've talked to the woman," Prentiss said. "I'll tell Dylan."

"We'll meet you back at the hospital," Rossi told her before hanging up.

"I don't think Bill has the resources or man power to go looking in the forest for that woman. I still get lost in there. Especially at night. Man, its creepy in there at night," Annie said from the back seat. "It would probably be smarter for you guys to just get the agents that she is after out of here. Right?"

"We've been waiting for the okay from their doctors," J.J. explained. "Neither one of them are in any condition to fly yet."

Rossi was probably driving faster on the road than he should have been, but all that mattered to him was getting to that station and find out exactly how a psychotic woman not only got out of jail but armed herself as well. It didn't make any sense. Rossi called up Morgan at the first red light he came to.

"Morgan," Morgan whispered from the other end.

"Morgan, is everything alright?" Rossi asked.

"Yeah, Hotch is sleeping so I'm trying not to wake him. How did it go with the sheriff?"

"Laura escaped," Rossi told him. There was no use in beating around the bush, and if Laura's intent really was to kill Reid and Hotch, the hospital is the first place she would go.

"What?" Morgan's voice got considerably louder, and Rossi heard the echo of footprints as Morgan raced down the hallway.

"I am on my way to the station now with J.J. and one of the officers, but I already told Prentiss what's going on. I think she is going back to the hospital."

"What the hell happened?" Morgan shouted.

"I don't know, I'll tell you as soon as I find out."

"Laura wasn't smart enough to get out on her own. Somebody had to have helped her. Was it the sheriff? Did he go back or something?"

"No, he was with us the whole time," J.J. told him.

"He wouldn't do something like that," Taylor said.

"Then who did it?" Morgan asked.

"There was only 2 guys there when she got out, and one of them was getting his lunch or something so that leaves Kyle, but he didn't really let her out. She attacked him. He was probably trying to give her some water or something when she jumped on top of him."

"But how would she get that opportunity?" Rossi asked her. "I don't think I've met Kyle yet, but I'm sure he is bigger than Laura is. With all of the training he has had to become a police officer, it shouldn't have been this easy for Laura to escape."

"What are we going to do?" J.J. asked.

"I'm not going to tell Hotch," Morgan said. "He's sleeping right now. He isn't having the best time over here."

"What do you mean?" J.J. asked.

"I'll tell you more when you guys get back, but he does have ptsd. I'm pretty sure it was water from the sink in the bathroom that set him off, but I don't know yet. I don't want to start asking him questions until I'm sure he is up for it, and with that woman escaping from jail, I don't know if he will ever be ready to talk about it. What's the sheriff doing about Laura?"

"I'm not sure," Rossi said stopping at a red light. The station was just in sight, but then something hit him. Where was Rickie? He told the sheriff not to let that kid work there anymore, but the last time he saw Rickie, he was leaving with the sheriff. "Taylor, have you seen Rickie?"

"Yeah. He was the one who found the blood on the table and the clothes under the couch. He left right before you guys came."

"Did he say where he was going?" Rossi asked.

"No," Taylor said thinking back. "Um…he might be looking for his bike. I think he left it at the hospital from this morning."

"Are you sure he didn't walk back home?" J.J. asked.

"He wouldn't go back there unless someone made him. He hates that place."

"Morgan, if you see Rickie outside anywhere, don't let him leave. None of us know what Laura's plans are, but I don't think Rickie made a good impression on her."

"Walkin outside now," Morgan said. "I don't see his bike, but I'll let you know when I find him. Get over here when you leave the station. I'm positive Laura is on her way over here, and I don't want to be alone when she comes."

"Garcia was in the cafeteria," J.J. said. "You should probably tell her. Laura is known for holding hostages so none of us should be alone at any times."

The light finally turned green, and Rossi pressed on the gas until he was pulling into the police station. An officer was already waiting outside for them. How long had it been since Laura escaped? An hour? She could be anywhere by now, and time wasn't on their side. Rossi was planning on making Sheriff Bill get every single officer he had to cover the hospital. Laura wasn't getting anywhere near Hotch or Reid if Rossi could help it.

* * *

><p>Prentiss hung up the phone, and looked at Dylan who was now staring at her curiously. She put her phone back in her pocket and stood up. Reid was still back with Kate, and this was not her plan to rip away from this moment he needed. Everyone deserved a chance to say goodbye, but she didn't know where Laura was. She was sure she could handle the redneck if Laura came to the morgue, but a shootout in front of Reid wasn't the best idea. Laura wouldn't go down without a fight. Prentiss was sure of it.<p>

"What's wrong?" Dylan asked.

"Laura escaped, and the lovely police force in this town doesn't know where she is at."

"Laura Bates?" Dylan asked standing up. He pushed the wheelchair out of his way, and looked out the window like he was expecting to her strolling by.

"Yes, Laura Bates."

All of the color drained from Dylan's face the moment Prentiss confirmed who it was. She could understand why. He was trained as a doctor. He didn't sign up for any of this, and if Laura did break through the doors, it would be Prentiss who would have to deal with it.

"Bring it on," the mortician challenged from behind the front desk. The white haired man pulled out a pistol from a back shelf and put it in front of him. Prentiss couldn't imagine why he had a weapon that big. Usually when robbers go looking for looking for something to steal, the first location popping in their heads isn't the local morgue. "I just dare that woman to take one step in here. Just one little step and I'll blast her away."

"I hope it won't come to that," Prentiss said. She looked out the window, but she didn't see anyone lurking around out there. "We need to get Reid out of here though. Do either one of you know anything about Laura or her family?"

"No," Dylan said.

"What did you need to know?" Ed asked.

"Does she have any friends? I know that she was kind of a loner with her family, but did she talk to anyone else?"

"Are you afraid that she is going to get some help? Nobody in the right mind would want to help her," Dylan said. "I mean, if she is going to try finish what her family started, any friends she has would turn her immediately. Right?"

"Anybody that would be friends with her is already nuts," Ed said. "I don't know if she talked to anyone else other than her husband and her brats. I think she did go to all of the town meetings and such, but she was always with her husband. She talked to other women, but only if her husband was around so I dunno if she had what normal people would refer to as friends."

"But she's lived in this area her whole life," Prentiss told herself. "Even if she didn't have friends, she knows this place like the back of her hand. Finding her isn't going to be easy."

"Unless she makes a mistake," Ed said. "And from what I hear, this woman isn't exactly on the bright side. It won't be that long for her to mess up."

"We don't have that long," Prentiss said. "She isn't getting anywhere near Reid or Hotch. I'm going back to get him. I don't like it when I can't see him, and he can barely walk."

"He's just past the double doors back there," Ed said. "The only way in here is through this front door. I mean, there is a door in the back but it's bolted up. No one can get in there, and Laura wouldn't have the guts to come in so everyone could see her. I think Reid is fine where he is."

"You're probably right, but he's been abducted before this. It was a while ago, but it's still fresh in our minds. If something did happen to him while I was with him, I would die. I was in the car when Hotch and Reid were both taken. The Bates left me behind. I'm not going to let anything happen to him again."

Prentiss pushed the doors leading to the back open, but when she saw the double doors, she stopped and listened. She could hear Reid crying softly from the other side. She took a step closer, and looked in the door windows. She could just see Reid on the floor holding Kate's hand. A pile of vomit was near him, and his body was trembling. His face was pressed against her hand, and Prentiss couldn't tell if he was just crying for her or if the tears he shed were for everything he had gone through this past week. It was more than most people could handle, and she would admit that he needed this. She would give Reid a few more minutes with Kate.

* * *

><p>Laura felt like she had been staggering through the woods forever. It wasn't as cold as it had been, but she still wanted gloves on her hands and a hat on her head. She kept her hands buried in her pockets to keep them warm as she pressed on in the snow. She didn't care what the pig told her at the station. Why would she go out of her way to kill some kid? She didn't care for him much, but she had bigger things to do. Maybe after them agents were dead and her boys were out of the hospital, then she could tell them about killing Rickie, but not before. She was thanking the almighty God in heaven for letting her out. She didn't do nothin wrong. She had no reason to be caged up like some animal. Even they wanted to arrest someone, they should be arresting Hollywood for raping the virgin boy. That was all his doing. She had nothing to do with it.<p>

She avoided lingering near the main road. She kept herself near the center of the forest to avoid being seen, and she smiled when she heard sirens blazing in the opposite direction. She was sure that she had been gone for at least an hour, and the sheriff man was just finding out. He really was a loser, and she sure as hell didn't vote his ass back into the office. She wanted the old Irish guy. She was pretty sure his name was McDonald or something. She liked that guy. He was still for the death penalty for robbing banks which was just fantastic in her mind. People needed to pay for their crimes. Getting sent away to some fancy resort like prison wasn't going to teach them any lesson. They all needed to burn.

She started humming to herself to help pass the time when she heard something just in front of her. She jumped behind a bush, and held her breath. It was probably just an old hunter, but she wasn't going to risk being seen. She kept her legs tucked underneath her, but she moved some leaves out of the way so she could see who it was. At first, it just looked some random guy pushing a bicycle in the middle of the woods. It wouldn't be that unusual, but it still seemed odd to her. She bent in closer, and she swore that she recognized the chestnut hair underneath the baseball cap. Just to make sure, she picked up a stone near her feet and threw it as far as she could. It crashed against a tree, but the boy pushing the bike didn't flinch. Out of all of the fools that could have been pushing their bikes, it just had to be stupid deaf Rickie.

Laura stood up when she was sure that he couldn't see her, and pulled one of the guns out of her jacket pocket. This was just too easy. She followed behind him at a close distance, and tried to decide where to shoot him. She could shoot him in the chest and let the kid bleed to death in the snow or shoot him in the head and just be done with him. That seemed easier. If she left him alive, he would be able to fight and that wouldn't be good. She stopped walking, and aimed the gun at the back of his head. Long live Rickie. She closed her eyes and fired the gun.

She heard the strangest noise coming out of Rickie's lips in what she had to assume was some kind of deaf mute scream thing. She opened her eyes, and saw blood gushing out of his shoulder. Rickie dropped his bike and fell on his knees. One of his hands went to his shoulder while he turned around to see what hit him. Laura put the gun around her back and smiled. Killing this kid was just too easy. She smiled and waved at him when he saw her. He struggled to get on his feet, but he fell down again. Laura started laughing at the idiot. Getting shot in the shoulder wouldn't kill a guy, but he was sure acting like it was. Rickie rolled on his side, and managed to get to his feet the second time he tried. He kept looking at his shoulder in horror. Laura saw his stupid notepad near his bike. It must have fallen out when she shot him so before he could realize what was happening, she kicked snow over it. He wasn't going to need it anymore.

"Hey mutie, remember me?" she asked him.

Rickie stared at her like he couldn't believe what was happening. She saw him feeling his pants for the notepad, and he started freaking out when he couldn't find it.

"Don't bother mutie," she told him drawing the gun out from behind her back.

His blue eyes got large when he saw the gun, and he took a step back but then she took two steps forward. She wasn't going to let this idiot get away. He looked terrified, but that wasn't enough for her. She was in charge this time. Everyone was going to follow her rules. She shot the back tire off his bike to show him that she wasn't fooling around. He flinched when the back tire blew off, but he didn't try to run. He was probably in shock or something like deer caught in headlights. She remembered that Daniel told her once about how Hitler tried getting rid of all the people with physical or mental disabilities. Rickie would have been top of that list.

"You scared?" she asked him.

He shook his head, and took his hand away from his bleeding shoulder. It looked like it hurt bad. She would have to remember to patch it up before she gave the jacket to her boys. She was sure that Joseph would love it. The boots Rickie was wearing would fit Daniel perfectly.

"Sure you're scared. Everyone is scared right before they die."

Rickie shrugged.

"We did have a boy like you once," Laura said walking towards him. Even if Rickie could talk, he would never admit to her in a million years how scared he was, but he didn't need to. She could see it in his eyes. "I was still pregnant with Joseph. Me and my husband been killin people for years, but back when we was younger, it was all women. I didn't mind. He needed his fun so when he brought back this kid, I didn't really get it. Especially back then. Benjamin said he grabbed the boy because that was the first person he was saw, and he was sick bein at home with me. I had the worst morning sickness. Pukin every mornin. Pukin every night. Just puke, puke, and more puke. Maybe he just wanted to get his anger out, and this kid was the perfect opportunity. He was like the one murder I wasn't involved with. I mean, I was there, but everything that happened to the kid was because of Benjamin."

She remembered how excited she was when she first felt baby Joseph kicking in her tummy. There was no comparison in the world to the love she felt at that moment. She could have had a dozen babies, but there would only be one first kick, and he kicked at the exact moment Benjamin brought that boy home. It had to be a sign. Baby Joseph was already longing for a life just like the one his mommy and daddy had.

"Little brat wasn't exactly like you," Laura continued. "He could hear, and boy did that little ass have a mouth on him. Don't think he even lasted an hour. Benjamin got a belt around the scrawny neck right after we ate. Didn't take as long as I thought it would. I wasn't even done with my dessert by the time he was dead. He screamed and fought, but my husband was a strong man. Want to know why he reminds me of you dummy?"

Rickie shook his head no.

"I'll tell you why freak," Laura snapped. "Because after we dumped his body, nobody came lookin for him. Never saw him on the news or flyers and the sheriff certainly didn't care. He wasn't missed, and I know you won't be."

Rickie shrugged again. If Benjamin was here, this kid would be dead already. He might have even strangled Rickie to death the same way that other boy died, but Benjamin wasn't here. She was alone, and while she was armed, it just wasn't the same without her husband. Still, she didn't have a choice. If she wanted that fancy jacket for her boys, Rickie had to die. She stepped closer to him, and raised the gun up by her chest. Rickie's eyes grew bigger, and while they were going all over, his eyes kept ending back on her face.

"Turn around and get on your knees boy," she said. If she had to do this, she didn't want to look at his face as he died. She wasn't like that. "Do it now you stupid kid! Put your hands on your head while you at it. Understand mutie?"

The idiot didn't nod yes to acknowledge her, but he did turn around. He looked around him, probably hoping someone would come rescue him, but no one else was around. She kicked him in the back to speed up the process. She didn't have all day to kill this fool. She needed to get to the hospital before the sun went down. Rickie stumbled a little, but he managed to get on his knees. He was taking his sweet time with it though. He knew that she was in a hurry. He just didn't care. She clenched her fingers tightly around the gun, and without thinking, she slammed it down onto his bleeding shoulder. Rickie let out a pained gasp, and he finally tried fighting. He fell on his hands, and tried to scoot away from her, but she was ready. She grabbed him by his hair, and pulled him back up to his knees.

"Any last words?" she asked laughing.

Rickie was breathing heavy. Idiot was scared silly, but this was it. She patted his head like he was a cute puppy dog, and she took a step back. She knew he was going to get blood splatter all over the jacket she was wearing. Shooting people directly in the heads could get pretty gross. She always used to yell at Benjamin whenever he shot people in her kitchen. Brains got everywhere, and she hated cleaning that up more than anything. She usually made Daniel do it. He never seemed to mind. She hated not knowing how sick her boy really was. That agent was probably just making it up. Daniel couldn't have a tumor in his head. Her family didn't get sick. He was probably just tired or stressed out from all the homework that slutty teacher gave him. All of that was over now. He would be able to relax, and that's what her boy needed. She crossed herself, and aimed the gun at the back of Rickie's head. She closed her eyes, and fired.

* * *

><p>J.J. was furious. She was fuming inside, and while she was choosing not to act out openly like Rossi was doing or Morgan would do, she wanted to kill whoever let Laura out. She was ready to get Hotch and Reid in the jet at that very moment. Even if Laura didn't know where they were being kept yet, it was only a matter of time before she did. An armed psychopathic woman was dangerous, but an angry psychopathic woman was worse. She had nothing else to lose. J.J. followed Rossi out of the car, but she kept looking behind her with every tiny noise she heard coming from the forest. She had a terrible feeling that something bad was happening, and that they didn't have a lot of time to dilly dally. Taylor was close behind her, but J.J. could barely hear the other woman. There were sirens screaming in the distance.<p>

The front door was wide open at the station. A paramedic was in the corner taking care of the officer that was there was Laura escaped, and the other officer was standing by Bill's desk. He was sweating. There was a brown paper bag by a pile of papers, and there were a few spots of blood on the dirty floor. It didn't look like anything too serious.

"Oh, thank God you're here," the officer said once he spotted them. "Hey, I'm Tony," he said extending his hand towards Rossi.

Rossi took his hand, but J.J. noticed he was still looking in the other cop's direction. He was the one they both wanted to talk to.

"Hi, I'm Agent Rossi and this is Agent Jareau," Rossi said.

"I don't know what happened," Tony said quickly. "I mean, I wasn't gone that long. I grabbed my lunch off the counter and came right back."

"And he was on the floor when you got back?" J.J. asked.

"Yeah. He was crying, and he said that Laura attacked him. That's all I got out of him. He's really upset too. Is the sheriff out looking for him?"

"Think he is on his way here," Taylor said. "He isn't having the best day."

"Great," Tony said looking at his feet.

Rossi turned around. He looked into the prison cell, but then went over to where Kyle was sitting in the floor next to the paramedic. There wasn't anything odd in the cell. J.J. didn't even see a cup of water or food that was knocked over that Kyle gave her when she attacked. J.J. knew there was something fishy from the start.

"Kyle?" Rossi asked the red headed man in the corner.

"What?"

"Could you stand up for me? I just wanted to look at your injuries," Rossi said.

Kyle looked at the paramedic, but stood up. Rossi circled around him to see what happened to him, but all J.J. could see was a few scratches on his face and arms. It didn't look like anything that could have taken down a full grown man.

"Can you tell us what happened?" J.J. asked him.

"Yeah, I was giving the bitch some water. She was refusing to eat or drink anything until she sees her sons so I tried opening up the cell to give her some. I wasn't expecting her to do anything, but she jumped on top of me. We both fell down, and she grabbed my gun. She took my gun, and something from the desk. And my jacket. She took that too. Right before she left."

"And old Henry's shoes," Tony called out.

"What?" J.J. asked.

"Henry's shoes," Tony said pointing towards the wall. "Drunk guy. Shows up dancing in the street every holiday. He left his shoes here on Halloween, and we were keeping them here for when he came back on Thanksgiving. They're gone."

"Where is the water you gave her?" J.J. asked looking back at the cell. "There isn't anything in here except for a bed and a toilet."

"Cleaned it up," Kyle said.

"So let me see if I understand what happened," Rossi said. "You gave her some water. She surprised you, grabbed your gun, took your jacket and Henry's shoes. She got the gun out of the desk, gave you a few scratches, and left. After she was gone, you cleaned up the water spill and called up Taylor all before Tony got back?"

"Believe what you want," Kyle mumbled.

"How many guns does Sheriff Bill let you have?" J.J. asked Taylor.

"Um, two of them. One we keep hidden in case of emergencies, and there is always the extra one in the desk."

"Where is your second gun?" Rossi asked.

"Left it at my house," Kyle said.

"So if we go to your house right now, we'll find your second gun?" J.J. asked.

Kyle didn't say anything, but his face was starting to turn as red as his hair.

"You told me she took your other gun too!" Tony said.

"Sir," Rossi said asking the paramedic. "Do you think he could have done all of these injuries himself?"

"Oh, most certainly," the young man said.

"So why would you let Laura out?" J.J. asked choosing to go another route with the questioning. He wasn't going to admit that he was the reason the maniac was loose, but he might slip up and say why she was free.

"I didn't let her out," Kyle mumbled.

"Were you just sick of her?" Rossi continued. "I admit, she probably could get pretty annoying in there with her potty mouth and stinky hair. Maybe you wanted to get back at the sheriff?"

"I didn't do it!" Kyle shouted.

"Maybe you wanted her to do something for you?" J.J. asked. "I mean, she could do whatever she wanted right now. She's already in trouble so she's going back to jail anyway. What could she do that you couldn't get away with?"

"Oh my God," Taylor said quietly. She looked out the window and then back at Tony who was looking more worried by the second. "Did you see Rickie come by here? He was getting his bike at the hospital, but he should have been back by now."

"I haven't seen him all day," Tony said.

"What about Rickie?" Rossi asked.

"Kyle and Rickie never really got along," Taylor said. Her eyes were still glued out the window. "Like ever."

The sirens were blazing louder, and J.J. could just see the sheriff's car pulling into the parking lot. She could see the sun high in the sky, and she saw the melting frost on the window, but she couldn't see the teenager with his bike.

"I didn't let her out," Kyle repeated.

Rossi slammed his fist into the wall which even made J.J. jump. She wasn't expecting that, but she knew how close Rossi had gotten to that boy already. She pulled out her phone, and texted Garcia about what happened. The goddess of technology would be able to tell them if Rickie stopped by at the hospital for a visit or not, but J.J. was sure he didn't. Laura was hiding in the woods, and the deaf kid was strolling in the woods. It wasn't a good scenario.

"You better not have not let anything happen to Rickie," Rossi warned Kyle.

Kyle didn't say anything, and Rossi finally turned around to leave. J.J. was right behind him, and they almost ran into the sheriff and his deputy as they were walking in.

"Whoa, what's the rush?" Bill asked them.

"Ask Kyle," Rossi said sharply.

J.J. could barely keep up with Rossi. She managed to shut her car door just as Rossi sped out of the parking lot. J.J. turned the heat on, and took off her gloves. Rossi was just staring at the road.

"What now?"

"I'll call Prentiss. I want to make sure that Reid is back," Rossi said. "I don't know what to do about Rickie. The forest is huge, and they could have taken any number of paths. I doubt they took a course near the main road. Rickie can't hear the cars and Laura doesn't want to be spotted. I wouldn't know where to start looking. We need to make sure Hotch and Reid are both safe in the hospital first. I'll have Bill send some of his first class officers to make sure no one gets into the building until Laura is caught."

"Do you think he will?"

"Of course he will. His name is on the line. He doesn't want him and his little town to be known as the place that Laura Bates got away."

Rossi was right. He was usually right, but J.J. couldn't help but feel for the kid. It was all just assumption that Laura was out there with him. Rickie could be at his house by now or maybe he stopped somewhere to get food. All of them could be freaking out for nothing, but something inside gave J.J. the chills. She wanted to get back to that hospital and stand guard in front of Hotch's room and Reid's room. No one was going to get in with her watch. No one was ever going to hurt them again. She would make sure of that.

* * *

><p>Reid felt his tears drying up. He didn't know if he actually done crying or if his body was still suffering from extreme dehydration. He knew the doctors had an IV connected to him at all times when he was in the hospital, but he took that thing off long ago. He never really liked needles, and he couldn't see Kate with that thing connected to him. It was like a leash or a chain connected to a wall that was meant to keep him in place. He looked at the bruises on his wrists, and felt another wave of emotions flood through him. He squeezed tighter onto Kate's pale hand. It was almost like if he could squeeze tight enough, he could bring her back. This nightmare would be over. That's all he wanted. He didn't want to think about the constant pain coming from his rear end, or what would happen when he finally did go back to work and leave this town forever. He couldn't save Kate. He couldn't save Daniel. He couldn't even save himself.<p>

"I'm so sorry Kate."

He kept saying this over and over and over. He hoped that she could hear him, and he hoped that she could forgive him. If he could go back in time and stop Joseph from choosing her, he would do it in a heartbeat. He would convince Daniel's family to take him to the hospital, and he would find a way to get Hotch out of there. It would all be better if Reid could just have one more chance. Nobody would have had to die, and after Daniel was treated, he would be able to live out the rest of his days as a normal person. Reid would rest easier at night knowing everyone was safe. He rubbed his nose, and looked up at the sealed boxes in the wall in front of him. Was Daniel in there? There could only be so many morgues in a town this small. Where else would they keep him? Were Joseph and Benjamin in there as well?

Reid used the table Kate was on to steady himself as he got back on his feet. His legs still wobbled underneath his weight. How long would that last? He couldn't remember the last time he actually felt like himself, and he was scared to death that he would never feel that way again. He lifted Kate's hand back on the bed, and let it rest on her leg. He was staring at the cuts and bruises on her wrists when he noticed the chipped nail polish still on Kate's nails. He remembered Laura did that to her right after Benjamin raped her. He raped her right in front of Reid, Hotch, and both of the boys, and then Laura had the nerve to put that paint on her nails after she was knocked unconscious.

He pulled her hand closer to him, and got to work scraping the nail polish off. She would never want to be buried in something that one of her murderers gave to her. He couldn't save her life so the least he could do was get the paint off. It wasn't coming off as easily as he would have hoped, but he was making progress when he noticed Prentiss standing by the door. How long had she been watching him? He couldn't tell, but he didn't like the idea of being spied on. He knew the entire team looked out for him. He was the youngest and not as physically strong as the others on his team, but that didn't make him weak. He knew he wasn't weak. He just wished they would learn that too. If he could get through something like Henkle, he could get past the Bates family. He pretended not to have noticed Prentiss, but she probably saw him looking her direction because she slowly walked in the room.

Reid stopped messing with the nail polish, and stood as tall as he could. Prentiss looked down at Kate and then back up at Reid. He didn't say anything as she stepped in front of him, but then all the emotions came flooding back and hit him at once. He bit his tongue to keep himself from crying, but that didn't work at all. This was his reality. All of this did happen, and no matter how many times his mind tried telling him this was a bad dream, that was a lie. He wasn't sure what brought that about, but seeing Prentiss with a sling around her arm almost made Reid fall to his knees. Everything that he went through could have happened to her instead. She could have been the one chained up to a bar in the Bate's freezer. She could have been the one that was raped in the shower by a fat alcoholic slob, but she wasn't. That all happened to Reid. He looked into Prentiss' eyes, and he just broke down. He couldn't stop the tears from falling down his face.

He expected Prentiss to start talking to him or tell him to stop crying, but she didn't. She wrapped her arms around him, and Reid started bawling. His chin fell on her shoulder, and his nose was dripping. He felt overwhelmed, and he didn't know how he was even able to hold himself up. He didn't try wiping his eyes, and all Prentiss did was gently pat on him on the back. She never tried talking to him, and for that, he was grateful. He didn't think he would be able to comprehend anything she could say to him at that point. The warmth of her body brought him comfort that he hadn't felt since before the abduction. In fact, he didn't think he physically touched another person since what the Bates did to him. His mind kept trying to compare the hug to the feeling of Benjamin on top of him, but Reid wouldn't let his thoughts go there.

Reid didn't know how long the hug between them lasted, but it was long enough to try up his tears. He was the one that broke away from the hug, and even when they were parted, Prentiss looked ready to catch him if he needed her again. He wiped his face dry, and looked back down at Kate. He knew that once he left the room, he would never see her again. This was it, and as hard it was for him to accept, he knew that he couldn't change the past. He couldn't bring her back. He put her hand under the sheet where it belonged, and took a step back.

"Are you ready?" Prentiss finally asked.

"Yeah," Reid said barely hearing his own voice.

"Ok, I'll be out there waiting. We need to get back to the hospital."

Reid watched her go, and had a short flashback of what happened last time he was left alone after his abduction. Grabbing the drugs from Henkle's pocket was still fresh in his mind, but he never considered doing that again. Instead, he walked back up to Kate. He bent over, and kissed her gently on the forehead.

"I hope you're at peace," Reid whispered. "I'll never forget you."

He thought about pulling the sheet over her face, but he decided against it. He wasn't going to leave her in the dark. He took baby steps to the double doors, and he never looked back. If he did, he was afraid he would never leave. When he finally got back to the waiting room, Dylan was near the door with the wheelchair. Reid was feeling tired so he sat down in the chair without thinking twice about it, but something was different. He couldn't get off anything from the expressions on their faces, but there was a heavy feeling in the air. Something was wrong.

"Thank you for letting us come," Prentiss told the mortician.

"Anytime," Ed said smiling. "Be careful out there. Roads are slippery."

"Thanks," Dylan said.

Dylan helped get Reid in the car, and they were on the road in less than a minute of leaving the building, but something really was different. They weren't talking at all. They weren't offering up any information about what happened while he was with Kate, but it was something big. Was Hotch sick? Was his body rejecting the medicine they were giving him?

"What's going on?" Reid asked breaking the silence.

"Nothing," Dylan said way too quickly.

"Is it Hotch? Did he get sick?"

"Hotch is resting," Prentiss said. "Morgan already texted me."

"Then what is it? You can't say nothing is wrong. I see it in your faces."

"I'll tell you when I get back to the hospital," Prentiss said.

"How are you feeling?" Dylan asked changing the subject. Reid wasn't sure if he did that on purpose or not. Whatever was going on, Dylan knew about it.

"Just tired," Reid said.

Whatever was going on, it was urgent. They didn't stay around to talk to the mortician, and they got Reid into the car at record time. It was almost like there was something outside that they were trying to get away from. If there was news of some rabid animal wandering through the woods, they would have told Reid. That wasn't really big deal, but something was out there and it was something they didn't want to tell him.

"Is it Laura?" Reid asked quietly. He didn't want to hear himself say her name, but what else could it be?

"We can talk about it when we're back," Prentiss said.

"Telling me and telling me at the hospital isn't going to make much difference," Reid pestered. "Except for now the information you tell me stays between the three of us and there is no chance of anyone listening in."

"I'd feel better if the whole team was there," Prentiss answered.

"Does Hotch know yet that Laura escaped?"

"Hotch is sleeping, and I never said that," Prentiss said.

"You didn't need to say it. Process of elimination. If it was anything else but her, you would tell me and it would be no problem. You think she is trying to find where me and Hotch are at?"

Prentiss sighed, and turned around in her seat.

"We don't know. I'm sure the sheriff already has officers looking all over the forest. They will find her. She's not going to be able to get in the hospital."

Reid was scared. He wasn't going to let Dylan or Prentiss know, but he was scared. Thinking that she was nearby sent his heart racing. He missed the gun that was once safely by his hip, and he wanted it back more than anything. He could protect himself. He was prepared for Laura this time around. He wanted to ask Prentiss for his gun, but he knew that she would never let him have it. The logical part of his mind could understand why. He could barely stand up. Putting a deadly weapon into his hands just sounded like a mistake, but he didn't want to wait around for Laura like a sitting duck. He wanted to be prepared. Prentiss could tell him all day long that Laura was never going to find him, but she wasn't going to disappear into the woodworks. She was out there, and she was looking for him.

"It's going to be okay," Prentiss assured him.

"She isn't going to go back to jail," Reid said.

"She will if they catch her," Dylan replied.

"She won't let herself get caught, and if she is cornered, she would choose suicide over spending the rest of her life behind bars," Reid said quietly. Laura wasn't smart. She wasn't bright in any sense of the word, but she was loyal to her family.

"You let us handle her," Prentiss said.

Reid didn't say anything. The team knew how dangerous this woman was, and he was sure that they would be able to take her down without blinking twice. Still, his heart pounded in his chest. Laura was out there, and she was looking for him. She could appear at any moment, smiling with her rotted teeth, and in some ways, she was scarier than her husband. Benjamin knew he had problems, but Laura preferred to live in her own little world where she could bake pies for her family on the weekends while she killed the innocent souls her husband brought home. Reid was sure that he wouldn't be able to sleep until this woman was captured. Or killed.

_so here is chapter 34. u guys like? its leading up to the final confrontation which shall b epic. right? im excited. ill start writing it soon but remember, awsum reviews on this chapter help me write faster lol. I love reading the feedback 4 every chapter and it gives me ideas 4 what 2 put in the next chapter. thx 2 everyone who has been helping me out with what 2 do with certain characters. I want every character that I gave a complex backstory for 2 have a good ending. I don't want any loose ends for my characters. so im pleased with the direction this is headed, and while I don't have every minor detail worked out 4 the next chapter, I already know the last little section for the story. and its AWSUM. so plz review friends. till next time xoxoxoxo and happy birthday 2 me and paget and matthew =)_


	35. Chapter 35

_so my plan was for this to be the last chapter. and that sadly didn't work out. I started writing and it was taking forever until I got to the exciting scenes and then the just kept coming and coming and coming and now this chapter is 21 pages long and im not even at the final confrontation so I decided 2 save that for the last chapter along with the epilogue. so ya. lots and lots of angst in this chapter and that's always fun so pppllzzz review this fun chapter. enjoy guys =) _

Morgan was getting ready to put the entire hospital on lockdown. After he got Garcia safely upstairs, he was going to find the head doctors of this place and explain the situation. No one would be entering or leaving the hospital until Laura Bates was found. He wasn't entirely sure what to do if someone did come with a dire emergency that doctors needed to treat, but if that did happen, he could probably have Dylan look over the patient with an officer at his side. He wouldn't put it past Laura to wear some silly disguise to get into the hospital, but Morgan was never going to let that happen. All of this was going to end tonight.

He found Garcia where J.J. told him that he would. She wasn't in the bathroom anymore, but she never left the cafeteria. She was sitting at one of the tables looking at some necklace. He wanted to sit down and talk to her. He wanted to find out what was bugging his dear friend, but he didn't have time at the moment. After he was sure that she was safe, he would sit down and talk with her for as long as she needed, but not now. He loved her with all of his heart, and he would die if anything ever happened to her. She needed to be upstairs with the rest of the staff when Laura got there. He thought about sending her back to the station or the hotel even, but he couldn't let her be alone anywhere. That's what Laura would want.

"Hey baby girl," he said softly as he approached the table. Her eyes were red from crying earlier and she looked exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to hug her and tell her everything was going to be alright, but that would probably make her even more upset. He was never good at hiding his emotions from Garcia.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Well, Reid will be back soon and Rossi is on his way here with J.J. We got a little situation going on."

"What kind of situation?"

"Laura Bates escaped," Morgan said as calmly as he could. "The sheriff already has officers out looking for her, but all of us have a bad feeling that she is heading over here."

Garcia stood up, and stuffed the necklace into her coat pocket.

"What? No, no, no, no, no!" She circled around to the front of the table where Morgan was standing. "How she did she get out? How do you know she is coming to the hospital? Oh my God, what about Hotch? And Reid? What if she causes another car accident and takes Reid again? She would take Reid and Prentiss. Does she have a gun?"

"Slow down," Morgan said. "The doctor is driving them, and Laura doesn't have a car. The old car that she had with her husband was impounded. There is no way she can get to it, but is armed. I'm not going to let anyone come or leave this hospital until she is caught. No matter how hard she tries, she isn't going to get near Hotch or Reid."

"How do you know she is after them again? What if she has a new target like Prentiss or J.J.? She saw Emily when she crashed their car. How do you know that Laura doesn't want to take her because of what is happening?"

"I'm positive she wants to finish what she started," Morgan told her. "If she does have some kind of beef with Prentiss, that will come after what she wants to do to Hotch and Reid, but it's not going to happen. Don't worry."

"Kinda hard not to worry when I saw what happened to them last time," Garcia said. Her voice was trembling. "Hotch and Reid can't go through that again. They can't."

"And they won't," Morgan said. "Can you tell all of the doctors and nurses upstairs to not let anyone they don't personally know past the elevators? There will be officers here soon, but we need to start getting ready. I don't know what time they will be here, and we don't want Laura sneaking in before Sheriff Bill shows up."

"Ok," Garcia said. She looked happy to be given something to do.

Morgan watched her get into the elevator, and then he went to find the nurse's station. He knocked on the door once, and when no one answered right away, he let himself in. He didn't have time to waste. He saw about 15 nurses sitting around; some were eating and some were texting, but all of them looked up when they saw him. He didn't see Hotch's doctor, but he was probably still upstairs.

"How many patients are in this hospital right now?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know agent, but you should really stop opening closed doors," an older nurse said.

"How many?" Morgan asked again.

"About 10," a doctor standing near the microwave said. "I'm not sitting in front of my computer right now, but that's my guess."

"Is it possible to move everyone to the second level?"

"It is, but what is this about agent? It's not a great idea to be ushering sick people back and forth, and I know that at least 2 of them have broken bones. Poor old guy in room 163 has a bad flu, and the flu is always worse on older people. He is 93 years old, and we are just hoping that guy lasts the night. He isn't doing too well."

"Laura Bates escaped from jail about an hour ago, and she is heading in this direction."

One of the nurses gasped, and he finally had their full attention. Most of them never treated Hotch or Reid, but all of them knew who they were and what the Bates family did to them.

"She is armed, ruthless, and is known to take hostages. We are putting this hospital on lockdown as soon as the rest of my team is back. She will be going after Agents Hotchner and Reid, but she won't be afraid to shoot anyone in her way. I'm asking the doctors and nurses in charge of the patients here to stay, but the rest of you can leave if you want. If you do choose to leave, you cannot come back in the hospital until Laura Bates is caught."

"How do you even know she is coming here? If I were her, I'd change my name and get out of the state."

"She is coming here," Morgan repeated. "She isn't smart enough to change her name or keep herself hidden for long. She wants revenge for what happened to her family. So is it possible to move all of the patients down here to the second level?"

One of the nurses nodded.

"Then get on that right away," Morgan said. "I'd like to start locking the doors and windows now. We can let the rest of my team in when they get here, but after that, no one comes or leaves."

"If the doors are all going to be locked, why can't we stay down here?"

"I don't want to risk it. If she does manage to get in, the first thing she will do is look for a hostage. Everyone will be safer upstairs. I don't want anyone walking anywhere alone or going onto some upstairs balcony where you can be spotted."

"Making us feel like prisoners," another nurse muttered.

"If you don't like it, you can leave. I'm giving you that option. I'm giving all of you that option, but I will not let any of you jeopardize the lives of the agents upstairs or anyone else in the building. This is a serious situation, and I'm counting on you guys to help me out. Are there any questions?" Morgan asked.

No one raised their hands or blurted out a question.

"Ok, good. Start moving the patients upstairs. I'll help you guys lock the doors and windows. We need to make this place as secure as possible."

He got out of the room when they started packing up their foo on the tables. He didn't need to supervise them like they were babies. They knew what they needed to do, and so he went out to the waiting room, and after making sure there weren't any people out there looking for assistance, he got to work making sure all the windows were secure. He turned all of the televisions off so if Laura was sneaking around, he would be able to hear her.

He was checking out one of the back offices when his phone started buzzing in his pocket.

"Morgan."

"Hey, it's us," J.J. said from the other end. "We're almost there. Any sign of Rickie?"

"I haven't been outside, but I haven't seen him anywhere inside. I'm having all the staff move to the second level. I'll let you know if I see the kid though. Garcia is upstairs, and I'm having the nurses move all of the other patients to the same level."

"Good idea," J.J. said. "We already told Reid so he knows what is going on, but we'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay," Morgan said. He wasn't too thrilled about Reid knowing what happened with Laura, but what's done is done. "I'll wait down here for you."

He hung up his phone, and looked out the window. Clouds were covering up the winter sun making it look gloomier than ever in the waiting room. He hoped that wasn't a prediction of what was to come. He knew that Laura was nearby. He didn't know how close she was, but she was waiting, and he was ready for her. He dropped the curtain over the window when he saw the doctor's red car pull into the parking lot.

* * *

><p>Rickie had a lot on his mind when he was walking home from the hospital. He got his bike without any incident, and he was trying to figure out if he should go back to the Bates house or stop by at the station to see if the guys working over there needed any help. He didn't want to go back home. Sheriff Bill couldn't pay him to go back home. He hated it there more than anything, and he was actually enjoying the serenity of the walk in the woods. He watched the wind blow softly through the trees, and he loved looking at the tiny footprints of the creatures that ran off as they heard him approaching. He always thought it would be nice to build a house out here, and just live off the land. He knew that would never happen for him, but it was nice to think about.<p>

He was about halfway back to the station when something felt wrong. He didn't know what. He couldn't see any animals nearby, but he knew he wasn't alone. He tried to let the feeling pass and keep walking. It wasn't possible to alone in the forest. There was always something around, but this wasn't some cute little animal. Somebody was watching him. He was keeping an eye open for any movement towards him when something that felt like a large rock or boulder hit him in the shoulder. His shoulder felt like it was burning as he managed to see what happened to it. Blood was gushing out and falling to the snow in large amounts. Rickie felt some kind of vibration coming from his throat, and that's when the pain finally hit him. He dropped his bike, and fell down in the snow. He put his hand over the wound to stop the bleeding, but the blood just seeped through his fingers. He got picked on his most of his foster homes, and he was used to getting hit around, but none of the pain he felt in his past could compare to this. This was pure agony, and no amount of pressure he put on it would stop his shoulder from throbbing.

Rickie finally turned around to see what hit him. He was sure that snow hadn't fallen on him from tall branches, and no animal attacked him for sure. He kept his hand on his shoulder as he turned, and he found Laura standing directly behind him smiling. She was waving at him with her left hand which was strange because she was right handed. She was hiding something behind her back, and it was at that moment that Rickie realized he had been shot. He lived in a silent world his entire life, but he never wanted to talk or hear more than that very moment. How did she get out of jail, and how in the world was she armed? Did she hurt the officers back at the station, and why in the world would she shoot Rickie? He admitted to himself that he wasn't exactly friendly to her, but how would that relationship end with his bloodshed?

"Hey mutie, remember me?" she asked.

He felt the back of his jeans looking for his notebook, but it wasn't there. He must have lost it when he fell down, but he didn't see it near his bike. He couldn't even ask her why she shot him.

"Don't bother mutie," she said when he looked back at up.

She finally pulled the gun out from behind her back which only confirmed what Rickie already knew. He took a step back out of instinct, but then she took a few steps towards him. He did not live his life in and out of foster homes to just be murdered like an animal in the middle of nowhere. This couldn't be it, but he didn't see anyone else around. Surely, if someone was in the area and heard gunfire, they would come to see what happened. That's what Rickie was hoping for anyway, but this was the forest. Gunfire was probably a very common sound out here. Rickie was on his own.

Laura shot the back tire off his bike, and as hard as it was to do so, he didn't run. It took him forever to earn enough money to buy that bike. He loved it. He didn't think he would ever be able to drive a car so that bike was all he had. He wanted to attack her for what she did to his bike, but his bleeding shoulder kept him in place. The blood was sure to attract every wolf that was living nearby. As much as he hated Laura, he thought his chances were better with her than with a pack of hungry wolves. He was smarter than she was.

"You scared?" Laura asked him.

He shook his head no, but he really was terrified. One bullet could end it all for him, and he knew it. He just hoped that he was smart enough to figure a way out of this situation. He took his hand off his shoulder just to show her that he wasn't scared of her. It hurt worse without the warm pressure from his hand, but he chose to ignore it. When she went off on some story about a poor kid that her husband murdered, he finally got a good look at her. She wasn't wearing her own shoes. He wasn't entirely positive, but they did look a lot like the drunk guy's shoes that came to the station what seemed like once a week. It was obvious they weren't hers. Her feet seemed to slide around in them. If Rickie did choose to run, she probably couldn't keep up with him long in those shoes.

The other thing that stuck out to him was the jacket she was wearing. He knew for certain that this wasn't hers. Kyle was wearing that jacket last night. He wore that jacket pretty much every day so Laura got it from him. It seemed possible that Laura could have attacked him and took his jacket and the pair of shoes she found, but how would she have known about the gun in the desk? Rickie could tell that she had more than just the one gun she was holding. It was hard to hide the bulges in her pockets. Kyle was over six feet tall, and Laura probably stood around 5'4 at the best. How could someone of her height take over a man like Kyle? It didn't make sense, and the more Rickie thought about it, the more he was convinced that she had help getting out of her cell.

None of his recent discoveries explained why she attacking Rickie though. Even if Kyle had let her out, why was she shooting Rickie? She could have just let him be. It looked like she was heading in the same direction that he was coming from which meant she was going to the hospital. Why in the world would she take precious time to kill Rickie when she could be going after the agents? It didn't make any sense at all. Rickie looked at Laura's mouth to make sure she was still telling her story, but he didn't know what he would do when she finished. He would never refer to his deafness as a handicap. It wasn't, and he hated relying on people more than anything, but he gladly welcome help from Rossi or one of his friends right then. He would have given almost anything to not be alone with Laura.

"Want to know why he reminds me of you dummy?"

Rickie shook his head no. He honestly didn't care, but he was running out of time. There was only so long this woman could stand the sound of her own voice. He was sure it was a sound that other people couldn't stand. She went on to tell him that the kid her husband murdered was never missed after he died, but that really wasn't any concern to Rickie. He couldn't change the past. All he could do was focus on this moment, and if he would be able to figure out a way to get as far away from Laura as physically possible.

Laura took a step towards him, and that told him that her little speech was over. She raised her gun higher, and Rickie's heart felt like it was running a marathon in his chest. Was this it? Was she just going to shoot him and call it a night? He didn't want to die, but if he didn't have a say in the matter, he didn't want to die alone.

"Turn around and get on the ground mutie," she told him. "Do it now you stupid kid! Put your hands on your head while you're at it. Understand mutie?"

He took his time to turn around, and his eyes scanned over the forest, but he didn't see any movement. There weren't even any birds in the trees. He was completely alone. When he got down on one knee, he felt a sharp kick in his back. He fell down, and his shoulder erupted in fiery pain that he did his best to ignore. He finally got on both knees when she shoved her gun into his bleeding shoulder. The pain was almost more than he could bear. He let out a pained gasp, and fell back on his knees. He tried crawling away out of instinct alone, but she grabbed him by his hair and pulled him back up. His baseball hat fell to the ground, and his teeth started chattering. He couldn't tell if this was simply from the cold or from the fear coming from deep inside of it, but he couldn't control it. She patted him on the head, and her boots brushed against his leg when she stepped back. If his plan didn't work, this would be it for him. He counted to five, and pushed himself forward. He landed face first on the snow, and felt a strong burst of air go through his hair. He looked up, and saw a hole in the tree in front of him. He turned around and saw Laura still standing behind him with her eyes closed. If she hadn't closed her eyes, he would be dead by now. He kicked his right leg into her knee, and just like he was hoping, she dropped her gun down in surprise. He grabbed it before she knew what hit her, and he jumped up as fast as he could. He almost slipped in the melting snow, but he got his footing and he started running. He ran and ran and ran. He made sure not to stay in a straight line because he remembered it was harder for the bad guy to get you if you ran in a zig zag. He turned around in the trees, and ran deeper into the forest. He ran until his legs gave out, and even then, he managed to crawl behind a bush.

Rickie was sure that she would be able to hear his breath so he tried breathing with his mouth closed. It was hard when his lungs were screaming for more oxygen, but his life depended on not getting caught. He didn't even know if Laura was chasing him, but why would he risk it? He kept his fingers wrapped around the gun. He never shot one before in his entire life, but he wouldn't be afraid to if Laura found him. He ripped off part of his shirt, and wrapped it around his still bleeding shoulder. It didn't hurt as badly as it used to, but he needed to stop the bleeding. He was sure wild animals could smell the blood. He tied it up tightly, and leaned his back against an old tree so he could be able to see the forest around him. He didn't see Laura anywhere, but that didn't mean she wasn't still out there looking for him. He didn't know how much time went by before his eyes starting getting heavy. He fell asleep against that tree with his fingers still wrapped around the gun.

* * *

><p>When they pulled into the hospital, Prentiss let Dylan get Reid out of the car. He got the wheelchair set up, and Reid didn't complain when the doctor put him in it. Prentiss wasn't exactly thrilled that Reid knew what was going on. He had too much on his plate already, but she couldn't keep it hidden from him forever. He was smart, and he would have figured it out whether she told him or not. She just didn't want to do anything that would further damage his fragile mind. The poor kid had been through so much, and as much as she hated to admit it to herself, it wasn't over. It wouldn't be over until that woman was caught, and forced to pay for the horrendous acts she committed with her family. Prentiss kept her hand on her gun while Dylan led the way into the hospital. She looked around the grounds of the hospital, but she couldn't see anyone sneaking around the bushes. She didn't let her hand rest until Morgan let them into the building. Morgan locked the door again after they were safely inside.<p>

"Any news?" Prentiss asked.

"Rossi and J.J. are almost here," Morgan said. "All the patients and staff are on the second level, and the building is secured. No one can get in without us knowing. Betting you a million though that the sheriff and his posse are on their way too."

"Know what happened to that guy who let her out?" Prentiss asked.

"No idea, but if I were him, I'd be halfway to the next town by now."

"Okay, I'll get Reid upstairs," Dylan said. "I need to call my wife to let her know what's going on here. She was hoping I'd be home to have lunch with her and the baby."

Morgan finally noticed that Reid was dozing off in his chair.

"Gave him a sedative," Prentiss said quietly. "He started stressing out on the way here. We didn't want him to have a panic attack, and it's better if he was sleeping until she is caught. Hotch is still sleeping, right?"

"I haven't checked on him in a while, but the last I heard, he still was in dream world."

"Thank you for doing all of this Dylan," Prentiss told the doctor. "You don't have to be here if you don't want. You could go home to your wife."

"Nah," Dylan said pushing up his glasses. "I'll stay. I need to be here. My wife will understand. I'll be sure to get my vacation time once all of you go home."

Prentiss smiled at him, and watched him go into the elevator with Reid. The hospital looked like something out a horror movie with absolutely no people running around the waiting room. The televisions were all turned off, and Morgan had closed all the blinds so there wasn't any sunlight coming in from the windows.

"Laura isn't going to let herself get arrested, is she?" Prentiss asked to break the silence.

"Pretty sure she isn't," Morgan said. "Her husband went down fighting so I'm pretty sure she will too. When the police get here, I want at least one officer outside of Reid's room and Hotch's room. There isn't any way to possibly get in their rooms through the windows so that should be enough to deter her from doing something stupid."

"Oh, she'll still do something stupid," Prentiss said. "It just won't happen around Hotch or Reid."

"What happened at the morgue?" Morgan asked quietly. "How did Reid take it?"

"Better than I thought," Prentiss answered. "He needed to see her. Everything happened so quickly at the Bates house. Hotch and Reid probably talked to her a lot. I mean, she was the only one who knew exactly what they were going through, and then one day, she's gone. That would be hard on anyone."

"I just hope this didn't set him back any," Morgan said glancing outside. "I mean, I wasn't prepared for what happened to Hotch in the bathroom."

Prentiss nodded. She didn't know the details of what went on, but she knew enough. Dylan told her on the way back that Reid would be okay for the plane ride to go home. Reid was already asleep by the time he told her, but she was so excited. All of this was finally coming to an end. They would go back home, and soon, all of this would be nothing more than a distant memory. Or nightmare. Either way, Reid would be safe. Hotch would be safe, and Laura would either be rotting away in a prison cell or in the ground. Both seemed like fine choices to Prentiss. She looked out the window again when she heard a car's engine. Rossi and J.J. pulled into the parking lot with the sheriff's car not far behind them.

"This looks like fun," Morgan said unlocking the door.

"Oh, a blast," Prentiss said. "I'll start blowing up the party balloons."

Morgan smiled, and she followed him outside. Rossi and J.J. were just getting out of their car when the sheriff jumped out of his. He was sweating terribly and his face was bright red. It looked like he had just gotten caught with his fat hand in the cookie jar.

"Did you have to stay on my tail the entire way here?" Rossi asked him.

"Shouldn't you be at the station disciplining your deputy?" J.J. asked.

"I sent him home," Bill said. "And she escaped from my jail so this is my business to be here. I'll be the one arresting her and taking her back. I have every single officer, including the lady one, out in the forest lookin for her. Don't you worry agents. My men will find her."

"You sure do a wonderful job running the police station," J.J. said.

Rossi looked like he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut and led the way back into the hospital. It was too cold to stay outside arguing with a sheriff who couldn't tell a bunny rabbit from a hungry wolf. The two officers that Bill brought with him sheepishly looked at one another, and then followed their sheriff into the hospital. Prentiss didn't go until last. She was just hoping so hard that she would be able to spot Laura hiding in the bushes. The sooner she found Laura, the sooner all of this would be finally over, but just like before, the bushes stayed still. Prentiss wasn't crazy enough to wander in the woods alone, and so she finally went into the hospital. With her luck, they would have found and captured Laura right when Prentiss realized she was lost in the woods. Then she would have to wait for her own rescue. It was better to stick with the others, and as much as she hated it, she had to wait for Laura to make the first move.

"Hospital is locked up," Morgan was telling everyone as Prentiss walked in. "I want an officer to be stationed outside of every door just in case Laura does get in, she won't know which door belongs to Hotch or Reid."

"She is armed and dangerous," J.J. added.

"Not to mention angry out of her mind," Rossi said. "She won't be afraid to shoot and kill anyone in her way."

"How do you know she will even come tonight?" an officer asked.

"We don't know for sure," Prentiss said stepping forward. "But from what we gathered, the chances are pretty good. She has no friends that we know of, and she has no place to go. It gets cold here at night so I am sure that a nice, warm hospital is looking better and better for her."

"And we'll be ready for her boys, won't we?" Bill asked with a big smile. I'll station the two of you down here at the front door. When the rest of them get here, you let them all in and tell them where we will be."

"He's crazy," J.J. whispered to Prentiss.

"Let's just go upstairs," Prentiss whispered back. "Hotch might be awake by now, and I want to see where they are going to put Reid. I doubt they will put him back in his old room. He was too close to the elevator."

J.J. signaled towards the others, and they left without giving the sheriff any explanation. They didn't owe him anything. It was the fault of the men he hired that all of this was happening in the first place, and if anyone did die from Laura, their blood would be on his hands. It was true that Laura wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone in her way whether that be Rickie or some poor old hunter just looking for his dinner in the woods. She was scared for Reid and Hotch. None of this was right, and they wouldn't be able to take much more of this. How would they ever be able to heal when their nightmares kept coming true? She looked once last time out the window, and then followed the others in the roomy elevator.

* * *

><p>Laura wasn't planning on opening her eyes until she finished saying the Lord's prayer. She needed God on her side now more than ever. She didn't want to be alone. She missed Benjamin more than she would ever admit, and she wanted her boys close to her. It had been forever since she last saw them, and praying helped her feel closer to them and her husband. She knew he was still with her, but she had only said a few lines of it when a blunt pressure sent her stumbling back in the snow. She dropped the gun she was holding, and almost lost her footing before she opened her eyes. In front of her, Rickie was where she left him, but he was still alive. The only blood she could see on him was from his shoulder. He was awake, alert, and the little bastard grabbed her gun. She reached out to stop him, but he was on his feet quicker than she could grab him. He took off running like some frightened deer, and he turned at the first tree he saw. She didn't see him again after that.<p>

She could chase him if she wanted. She knew how to track wounded animals, and that's all Rickie really was. He would find some nice hiding place to clean up his wound, but she could find him easy. His blood trail could lead her exactly to where the brat was hiding, but she didn't have time for that. If she wanted to get her boys out of the hospital and finish Benjamin's work, she didn't have time to go chasing deaf mutes. If anyone asked her, she would say that she did kill the kid. He would probably bleed to death out there anyway. It was easy to get lost in the woods, and she was sure he already had hungry wolves on his trail. The smell of blood attracted all kinds of beasts. He would be dead by morning, and the fat sheriff would his mauled body underneath some tree. She would claim responsibility, but by then, she would be gone. She wasn't stupid enough to stick around after the agents were dead.

She took the second gun out of her pocket, and turned around back towards the hospital. She had no ideas of how she would get in the hospital or how she would even find out the rooms that everyone was in, but God was on her side. She finished the Lord's Prayer, and then she took off towards the hospital. The air was growing still around her, and she took that as a sign from above that everything was going to be alright. She just needed to keep her eye on the goal. She picked up her face, but made notice of all the sounds around her. The cops were out looking for her by now, and she wasn't about to get herself caught. She pretended that Daniel was leading her. He always knew how to get of the woods. When he was little, she would wake up and find him sleeping in some tree.

"Come on Laura. You can do this," she told herself.

Laura was convinced that she took a wrong turn somewhere when the hospital finally came in sight. She made sure that no one was outside, and then she darted under the bushes in the front. She could see the sheriff's car, and the black SUVs that she knew belonged to the dumb ass agents. She couldn't see into the hospital itself though. Something was blocking the windows, and she was sure the sheriff had people down there waiting for her. What kind of idiot did they think she was? She kept herself down, and circled around to the back of the building. She was looking for some open window or a ladder or something that would give her access inside. As far as she could tell, everything looked secured. Even the top windows were locked shut, and it looked dark inside. What the hell was she going to do? She couldn't wait outside all night. The temperature was dropping by the minute, and her feet were already feeling cold.

"Think they can order me around," some mumbling came from behind a trashcan. Laura's heart sped up. This was her lucky day.

"If I need to go outside for a smoke, I need to go outside for a smoke," a young nurse complained to herself.

Laura pulled her gun out of the jacket's pocket. This was going to work out perfectly. Nothing would go wrong like it did with Rickie although she was confident the kid was dying. Or already dead. She came out from her hiding spot, and ran across the street. The woman was too busy fumbling in her purse to notice Laura. Laura got close enough to pull the woman's hair if she wanted to, but she wasn't going to do that. She rose up her gun and fired. The gun shot echoed through the parking lot, and the bullet went right through the back of the nurse's skull. The woman dropped down where she was standing, and Laura went to work. She took off the jacket she was wearing, and replaced it with the loose fitting shirt the nurse was wearing. She despised the flower designs in the material, but she didn't have a choice. She put on the black pants as well as her stupid crocs, and left the dead woman in her underwear behind the trashcans. She looked at the nametag on the shirt and smiled. Laura's new name was Kelsey.

She put both of her guns in the pockets of the black pants, and opened the back doors into the hospital. The bottom floor was deserted except for two officers who were standing by the front entrance. Both of them glanced at her and went back to their boring duty. She couldn't believe how easy this was. She kept her head down as she took the elevator to the second floor. She was planning on getting her boys first, and then killing the agents, but that would be harder than she originally thought. She would have to get to one of the agents, hold him hostage, and demand that her boys be brought to her or she would take his life. Once she got her kids, she would kill the agents that started this entire mess, and then smart Daniel could figure out a way to get them out of there safely. She missed him.

When the elevators were opened, she was greeted with a blast of cool air from the air conditioning and people running in every which way. There wasn't any order or control. She could see the blackie agent talking to some nurses at one of the stations, but she couldn't see any of the others. Nurses were talking loudly, and most of the cops looked like they had no idea what they were doing. It couldn't be more perfect. She wasn't stupid enough to go anywhere near the blackie. She went in the opposite direction, and spotted a door that was being guarded by two cops who were looking bored. She took a deep breath, and prayed that Benjamin would be with her. She needed him to help her be strong.

"Whatcha doin here nurse?" one of the cops asked. He was fat. She immediately didn't like him.

"I need to clean his bandages," Laura quickly said.

"Go on," the other cop told her.

"I'll be taking him to the cleaning room," Laura said avoiding eye contact. "It won't be long."

The cops both shrugged, and stepped away giving her access to whoever was in the room. She really had no idea, but she was sure it was one of the agents. She hid her excitement and hurried in the room. She didn't have a lot of time to get him out of there before she was discovered by a real nurse or one of the real agents. She shut the door behind her, and looked around the room she just walked into. Stuffed animals and balloons were everywhere. It reminded her a lot of the beloved nursery she made for her daughter that never was. She put that out of her mind and approached the sleeping man in the bed.

At first, she couldn't tell. Hair was covering his face, but as she bent down closer, there was no denying that was virgin boy. Well, he wasn't a virgin anymore. She giggled to herself, and took off the sheet covering up his still bony legs. He still had a black eye, and tons of scratches and bruises all over his body, but a lot of it was bandages up. He was a pussy. Benjamin got more scratches than that and never went crying to the ER. She found a wheelchair near the bed, and somehow managed to get the sleeping agent in it. He was totally out of it. She didn't know what kind of medication they gave the kid, but she loved it. He groaned a little while she positioned him, but he never woke up. She looked over the room to see if there was anything else she could use as a weapon besides her guns. Stuffed animals. Balloons. Cards. TV set. Some kind of medical equipment. No other guns or knives. She couldn't even find handcuffs, but she guess she didn't need them. Virgin would die by a bullet to the head.

Right before she wheeled him out, she took his socks off. Socks were a luxury. They were a luxury she couldn't have when she was locked up so he had no right to be wearing them. It was chilly in the hospital, and his feet would be the first to feel when the sleeping beauty finally woke up. Satisfied, she wheeled him right past the guards and into the elevator. Only a few people saw her, but not one person stepped forward to ask what she was doing with one of them they were supposed to be guarding. No one seemed to care. She went to the very top floor. She figured she could get the privacy she needed there. She would be able to set up a makeshift cell to keep Reid locked in until she got her boys back. The top floor was so quiet it scared her. No one ever saw abandoned wards in hospitals unless it was in some terrifying movie where a zombie would grab an unsuspecting victim and drag him into the darkness. If there were zombies up there, the first person they would see was Reid. He would be the one to die. Not her.

She walked as quietly as she could, but nothing was there to hurt her. It really was completely abandoned. She found a dirty looking room at the end of a long hallway, and figured this place was as good as any. It didn't look like the room had been used in years. The bed didn't look sanitary, and there was only one chair but it was missing a leg. Great. She didn't care. She pulled Reid out of the bed, and dragged him over the corner wall. There was a pipe she saw there, and she went to work securing his hands with bed sheets against the pipe. Once she was confident he couldn't move his hands, she stripped him of his hospital gown to secure his legs together. She laughed when she saw the bandages between his legs. She wondered if it still hurt, but she didn't take time to ponder. She would just ask him when he woke up. She tied his legs together as tightly as she could. He wasn't going anywhere.

When she was done, she wandered down the hallway until she found a chair that she could sit on and some more bed sheets that she could use to restrain Hotch. She would kill Reid in front of Hotch, demand the release of her boys, and then she would let one of them kill Hollywood. Joseph would probably love to be the one. She smiled to herself, and flung the sheets over her shoulder and dragged the chair behind her. She did find some interesting little knives that were probably used for surgery, and she thought they could help her out quite a bit. She stuck them in her she got back to the room, Reid was starting to move around. The idiot was finally waking up, and one of the first things he did was try to move his hands. Panic set in when he couldn't lift them up, and his big eyes shot open. She stepped forward and smiled as wide as she could.

"Miss me?"

Reid opened his mouth to scream, but she was prepared for that. She lunged forward with a pillowcase and stuffed it down his mouth. He was hyperventilating and struggling as hard as he could against the restraints. If he didn't calm down, he would faint but it wasn't any problem to her if she killed him when he was awake or not. She pulled one of the guns out from her pocket and waved it in front of his face. He stopped fighting, but he was trembling and his skin had become a ghostly pale.

"This ain't a dream sweetie pie," she told him. "You is here. I'm here, and we're together. Doesn't this sound fun? Not goin lie. I thought about you every single day. You think about me? I'm sure you did."

She got down on her knees, and ran her index finger against his cheek. He pulled back, but she grabbed his hair and put him back in place. He belonged to her once again, and she wouldn't let him forget it. He was only breathing because she allowed him to. It was another luxury that was denied to her beloved husband. She pulled one of the little knives out of her pocket, and dragged it across his cheek. His skin broke under the blade, and she heard a whimper from underneath the pillow case. She smeared the blood across his cheek and smiled at her handiwork. It wasn't as good as good as her carvings used to be, but it was a start.

"Think that will scar virgin?" she asked him.

He looked towards the door which she had left open, but no one was out there. She shut it just in case, and watched his eyes drop down. He was alone and he needed to know that.

"Ain't no one out there sweetie. Ain't no one comin for you. You know what could be interesting though? When Hollywood shows his pretty face, you think he could put on another show? You know, finish what he started?"

She took a step forward, and watched as Reid frantically scooted closer against the wall. His legs were up by his chest, and he looked close to passing out. She didn't feel sorry for him. He deserved every second of what was happening to him.

"You're going to die tonight. You know that?" she asked him. "I'd tell you it wasn't going to hurt, but I ain't no liar. It's going to hurt. Hurt bad."

"Laura Bates," a voice announced from the intercom above the door. "We know you are still in the building. Please pick up the phone so we can talk."

"And so it begins," Laura said smiling. She aimed the gun right above Reid's head and fired. She heard him scream through the pillow case and she laughed. This was going to be fun.

* * *

><p>Everywhere Garcia went she felt like she was in the way. There were people everywhere. There was so much commotion, and she couldn't get one spot to herself. Since she wasn't going to be facing Laura, she figured she should be doing something else that would help everyone out. J.J. was already with Hotch so Reid probably needed a friend as well. She could give him that necklace that belonged to Kate. He would love it. She knew that he was probably still sleepy from the medicine the doctor gave him, but she would be there when he woke up. She would make him smile and do her best to make him forget about what was going on. She would keep the boy genius until the monster hunting him was caught. She wasn't sure if they changed his room already, but she found his doctor in a hallway just putting his cell phone in his pocket. He would know. He looked tired, and Garcia had to respect him for being there. He could have fled like so many others in the hospital did, but he didn't.<p>

"Excuse me, um, doctor?" Garcia called out.

"Call me Dylan," he said turning around.

"Dylan, do you know if they moved Reid to a new room yet?"

"No one has said anything to me, but there's only one way to find out," he said.

He led the way through the crowds of people right to the room where Reid used to be. Garcia thought it was weird that there weren't guards standing in front of it. She could have sworn that the sheriff ordered his officers to watch their rooms. She guessed Dylan thought so when he stopped at the door and looked around.

"Guess they must have moved him," he said.

"I'll look inside," Garcia offered.

Dylan nodded, and Garcia opened up the door. Nothing seemed that out of place. The bed was messed up and the wheelchair was missing, but it would be if he was moved to another room. Dylan stepped in beside her and walked over to the bed. Garcia felt a little hurt that no one thought to move even one of the stuffed animals she brought him when she noticed a pair of socks lying on the floor. Why would his socks be lying in the doorway like that?

"Would they give him new socks when they moved him?" Garcia asked quietly.

"No."

Garcia stared at the socks, and she felt her heart pounding. She felt silly for flipping out over a pair of socks, but something wasn't right. Dylan didn't say anything, but she could see the worry in his eyes. Where was Reid? An officer wandered in just as she was turning around. He had a cup of coffee in his hand, and didn't look one bit entertained about what was going on in the room.

"Whatcha guys doing in here?" he asked casually.

"Looking for my patient," Dylan snapped.

"Nurse lady took him a little while ago. Had to clean his stitches or something."

"Which nurse?" Dylan asked.

"Kelsey."

"What did Kelsey look like?" Garcia asked.

"Um, middle aged woman," he said after he took a long sip. "Shorter. Little bit chubby. Brown hair. Funny voice."

"Kelsey is 23 years old," Dylan said quietly looking at Garcia.

"Ha! This lady was not some 23 year old," the cop said laughing.

Garcia ran out of there as fast as she could. She needed to find Prentiss. Or Rossi. Or Morgan. Or someone who would listen to her that Laura Bates was in the hospital dressed as a nurse. She was dressed as a nurse, and she took Reid to God knows where. She could barely keep control of her legs. She kept thinking to what that horrible woman could be doing to Reid at that very second. She didn't kill Reid. Garcia kept telling herself that. They were going to find him, and he was going to be just fine. That was the only way she could keep her legs moving. She was moving so quickly that she didn't notice Morgan standing there until she ran into him.

"Whoa, slow down baby girl. What's wrong?" Morgan put his hands on her shoulders, and it wasn't until then that she realized she was crying.

"Reid," she blurted out.

"Reid? What's wrong with him?" Morgan asked looking over her shoulder.

"Laura Bates is in the hospital. Dressed as a nurse," Garcia said as fast as she could. "She has Reid. She went in his room and took him, and the police officers let her!"

Morgan finally let go of her, and he ran off to where the nurses and doctors were starting to gather. She watched him go, but she couldn't sit around and do nothing. Moping around wasn't going to help Hotch or help Reid. She turned around to go find J.J. She didn't know how Morgan planned to tell everyone, but Hotch couldn't be alone. She was sure that he would try to do something silly like go after Laura himself, but he was in no shape for that mentally or physically. She wasn't there for Reid when he needed her, but she would be there for Hotch.

* * *

><p>Morgan was feeling stressed out. He felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, and nothing he seemed to do would make it better. He thought he finally had things under control when he got the hospital in a complete shutdown. Quite a few of the nurses and doctors left, and most of them followed his orders well. They were actually more of a help than the sheriff's little posse who had no idea what they were doing most of the time. It was almost like they didn't understand how serious this situation was and it was killing him. Lives were at stake, and they thought they had time to stand around and gossip or try to figure out what kinds of sweets that were being stored in the cafeteria. It was infuriating. He was trying to figure out where the hospital's cameras were when he saw Garcia running towards him at full speed. He stepped out from behind the counter to catch her if she fell. He knew that she could run in heels, but she didn't look like herself. Her hair was falling all around the headband she was wearing, and the mascara she was wearing was starting to drip down her face. Something was wrong.<p>

"Whoa. Slow down baby girl. What's wrong?" he asked her. He put his hands on her shoulders to try to steady her. She was shaking all over.

"Reid," she finally said.

Morgan swore that he had a heart attack when she mentioned his name. There was so much that could be wrong with him. Was he having a panic attack from that damned visit to the morgue or were his stitches tearing open? What if he was having a PTSD episode like the one Hotch went through? What if his body was rejecting the medication he was given?

"Reid? What's wrong with him?" Morgan asked. Reid's doctor was there. He knew that. If something was wrong with the boy genius, his doctor could surely help.

"Laura Bates is in the hospital. Dressed as a nurse. She has Reid. She went in his room and took him and the police officers let her!"

He didn't remember letting go of Garcia, but he ran as fast as he could to wear Prentiss and Morgan were talking to the other officers. The men would probably be thrilled that they finally had something to do, but where would Laura take Reid? If she already left the building, it would be harder than hell to find them. She would take Reid somewhere deep in the woods, and Reid wouldn't last long out there. He wasn't well, and the cold nearly killed him the last time he was in the woods. Morgan wanted to go punch a wall to let out his anger. How could this happen? How could a wanted woman just stroll in and take him?

"What's wrong?" Rossi asked.

"Somehow," Morgan said firmly trying to get his voice under control. "Laura Bates got in this hospital. For some reason, no one saw her or heard her. She is dressed as a nurse, and she has Reid."

"What?" Prentiss asked stepping forward.

"I don't know when all of this went down, but if we're lucky, she is still in the building," Morgan said trying to make eye contact with all of the officers. "We need to search every single room in this floor and on the other floors. We can't let her take Reid outside."

Rossi pulled out his gun and turned towards the officers.

"Well what are you waiting for?" he asked them. "Let's go!"

He directed them towards the hallway behind him, and he followed them to search those rooms. Morgan told the remaining cops to search the hallways to their right which just left Morgan and Prentiss standing alone at the nurse's station.

"You don't think she took him outside, do you?" she asked him.

"I don't know," Morgan admitted. "If we can't find them in here, we don't have much of a choice. I'm just afraid that if she did take him out there, it won't end well."

"And it's still really cold out there," Prentiss said.

Neither one of them had to admit what they were thinking. Morgan knew that is was becoming a very real possibility that Laura just took Reid into the woods and killed him. She had more than enough time already. If Reid was dead, none of them would ever forgive themselves. Morgan would have to live with that for the rest of his life. He promised the boy genius that he would protect him. Reid was supposed to be safe in the hospital, and Morgan was right there to fight away any bad guys that came around, but he somehow failed. Laura slipped right under his nose, and the poor kid that had been through so much already might be dead.

"Hotch is going to find out," Prentiss said after a moment.

Morgan wanted more than anything to keep that from Hotch. Hotch didn't need to know that Laura already took Reid away from them for a second time. That wouldn't be good for his health, but what good would it be to keep it a secret? Hotch would be furious if he found out that Reid was gone from some nurse or cop. It had to be someone from the team to tell him, and then they had to keep him from running off in some frantic attempt to rescue Reid.

"Guess I'll have to tell him," Morgan said quietly.

"Maybe we should check upstairs," Prentiss said. "Just in case. I'm sure the first place the sheriff will check is downstairs so maybe we should go up. Don't think she would be dumb enough to hide up there, but who knows?"

Morgan didn't really want to go up. He was sure that she was hiding in the forest somewhere, but it was worth a shot. He shrugged, and followed Prentiss to the elevators. It was a quiet ride. His own thoughts were louder than the creaking noise the elevator made. They couldn't have come this whole way for it to end like this. If Reid was murdered, what were they going to do? Giving Laura this most painful death he could imagine would never bring Reid back. Their team would be lost without him. Morgan couldn't even think about it.

The doors opened on the third level, and Prentiss went out first with her gun drawn. She looked both ways, but she never put the gun down. The place looked deserted. There was an empty bed down the hallway, and broken chairs littered some television room. The only light coming in was from the open windows in the rooms. Morgan swore he saw a set up like this is a horror movie once. He needed to remember to ask the doctors why no one was on this level.

"Yeah, this isn't one bit creepy," Prentiss said looking around.

"Not at all," Morgan said. "Kinda expected the basement to look like this. Hey, do you think she could be hiding down there?"

"Maybe, but let's look around up here first. I don't hear anything, but it's worth a shot."

"Laura Bates," a voice announced from the intercom above the door. "We know you are still in the building. Please pick up the phone so we can talk."

Morgan and Prentiss both froze in their spots when they heard the sheriff's voice echoing down the empty halls. He found out quickly, but if Laura was hiding out somewhere, calling her like that probably wasn't the best idea. It could make her scared or nervous, and a scared psychopath meant hostages. Morgan suddenly wanted everyone out of the hospital. If Laura was there, the doctors and nurses needed to leave.

"Wonder who told him," Prentiss commented.

"Wonder who told him that she is still here," Morgan added.

He was about to tell her that they needed to evacuate everyone when he heard a gun being fired. Nearby. Prentiss jumped a little, and both of them looked in the direction of the shot. It was coming down one of the hallways, and while they were waiting to see if they could hear anything else, Morgan heard a muffled scream. Morgan got his gun out, and ran as fast as he could down the hallway. He ended up at a closed door, and when he put his ear against the wood, he could hear someone moving around inside. He tried the handle, but it was locked.

"Oh my God, Reid," Prentiss whispered.

"Laura Bates, this is Derek Morgan with the FBI!" Morgan shouted as loud as he could. "Open this door right now or I will kick it down."

"Kick all you want blackie," Laura's voice came from behind the door. "You break it down, and virgin gets a bullet in his head. I ain't afraid to do it."

Morgan looked at Prentiss. She looked worried, and kept her gun in front of her.

"Laura, let's talk about this," Morgan tried again. "Just open the door and let me in. I'll leave my gun out here."

"Sure, come on in blackie," Laura taunted. "Come on in and see the dead body of virgin. Got the gun to his head right now. Don't believe me? Come on in!"

"What do you want?" Morgan asked.

"Only ones welcome in this here room are my boys and Hollywood, got it? Anyone else who tries sneakin in here through the window or the vents or that stupid door gets to clean up the virgin's blood. Lots and lots of blood."

"Let me hear his voice," Prentiss shouted at her.

"Why would I do that pretty lady?" Laura asked.

"Prove to us that he is still alive," Prentiss answered.

It got quiet in the room for a second. Morgan was sure that Laura wasn't going to give into their demands. She was in control. Morgan didn't want to admit it, but she was. Morgan wasn't going to do anything to risk Reid's life. Prentiss looked like she was going to ask again when a weak voice called out to them. It sounded strained, and Morgan felt like screaming.

"I'm here," Reid told them.

"Reid?" Prentiss asked. "Are you alright?"

Reid didn't say anything for another moment, and Morgan was debating if he could break down that damned door before Laura could do anything stupid. He could hear a muffled voice coming from inside, and he was sure that she was telling the poor kid what to say.

"She has a gun to my head," Reid said. "I'm scared."

"Hang in there kid," Morgan called out.

They heard some more movement, and Morgan figured that she was probably putting some kind of gag back in his mouth. Morgan would do anything in the world to switch places with Reid. Anything. Reid's voice was enough to send Morgan down the hallway in a violent fit, but he kept himself steady. He had to.

"There, y'all heard the virgin," Laura announced. "He's alive, but ain't goin promise on how much longer. He's already bleedin, and I don't know for sure, but it don't look that clean in here. Wouldn't want him to get sick and die before Hollywood and my boys get here."

"Ma'am please," Prentiss pleaded.

They both took a step back when another bullet was fired from the room that Laura was keeping Reid in. Prentiss had to hold Morgan back. He had one of his legs on the door already, but if she was sitting in there with a gun to Reid's hand, there would be no way Morgan could save him in time. Morgan had to control himself. They heard Laura laughing from inside.

"Y'all should have seen the way virgin flinched!" she shouted. "He should probably stop moving every time I get the gun near him. That one almost got him. It ain't nothin compared to what my poor Benjamin had to go through. Is it?"

Morgan heard some kind of struggle going in, but all of the noise was coming from Laura. She was kicking Reid, and Morgan felt the pain his young friend was going through. Pained grunts were coming from Reid, and Laura was laughing hysterically.

"You guys goin to hurry or keep listenin to our party?" Laura shouted. "Go get my boys and Hollywood in here pronto or I'll kill virgin. I could probably just stick one of these little knives into his throat. Think that could make him bleed to death if I get it in there deep enough?"

"What are we going to do?" Prentiss whispered.

"I don't know," Morgan said glaring at the door. Laura was still kicking Reid, and she wasn't trying at all to hide that from them. They didn't have much time, and Morgan knew Laura wasn't going to take it well when they told her that her kids were dead.

"We need to do something," Prentiss said.

"Okay," Morgan finally said. "You stay here. Don't move. Call me if she does something else, but I'll go down there and tell the others."

"What are we going to do about Hotch? We can't send him in there."

"I know," Morgan said. Giving her another hostage was the last thing she needed. "I'll see what the others say, and we'll meet you back up here."

"Tick tock agents!"

"Hurry back," Prentiss whispered.

Morgan ran as fast as he could to the staircase, and jumped down most of them. It was faster than taking the elevator. He was thankful that Reid was alive, but this was a disaster. If Laura killed Reid before he had a chance to get more help, he would personally kill her himself. She didn't deserve any less, but that wouldn't help Reid. He needed to find that doctor. Morgan could break the door, Laura could shoot like an idiot, but the doctor would be there to get the bullet out of Reid before any real damage was done. That would work. He wasn't going to send Hotch in there. He was going to get the doctor, and all of this was going to work out. He just needed to stay calm and stay in control. Laura wasn't in charge of him.

_pretty awsum, right guys? ill start working on the final chapter tonight so ya. this will be lots of fun but then I shall cry when its over. this story has been awesome 2 write and these r some of my best characters ever. make your predictions on who does what in the last chapter. don't forget 2 review my lovely friends. till next time! xoxo_


	36. A Hard Begining Makes A Good Ending

_Don't think I could have timed this any better my dear loyal readers. Here is the final chapter of The Old South, and as much as it pains me, all good things must come to end so without any delay, I present, chapter 36. warnings: major angst lol_

J.J. wanted to check on Reid right after she got out of the elevator, but once she saw that Reid's doctor was still in the room with him, she thought Hotch would be the better choice. None of them needed to be alone. When she got to his room, he was still sleeping, but she decided not to leave. She opened up his curtains to let some more light into the dreary room, and took a seat in the chair next to his bed. He wasn't tossing and turning which was a good sign. He was actually sleeping, and for that little moment in time, he was at peace. J.J. knew the quiet wasn't going to last. The sheriff was going to be making his presence known, and J.J. was just waiting for the whole hospital to get flooded in police officers. She didn't know what Morgan planned to do once the hospital was totally secured, but her idea was to just sit with Hotch. Somebody needed to stay with him, especially after what Morgan told them happened to their chief leader. She knew all of them were worried about Reid because he was the baby, but Hotch had been through hell and back too. It was hard to think of him as anything but their strong leader, but in many ways, he had been through more the past week than Reid had. Hotch needed their support.

She had only been in there for a few minutes when Hotch started moving aro"und. He rolled his head to the other side of the pillow and flexed his fingers. J.J. scooted closer to the bed, and put her hand on top of his. She smiled at him as he slowly opened his eyes.

"J.J.?" he asked as he looked around the room. "What happened?"

"How are you feeling?" she asked squeezing his hand.

"Headache," he said. He pushed himself into a sitting position. "Hungry too. Where is everyone?"

"Good thing you're hungry. Means you're getting better, right?"

"Yeah, if you want to try and convince the doctor to bring me a burger, that would be great," Hotch said with a little smile.

"Yeah, I heard Reid's doctor said he is okay to fly so I guess we'll be going home soon," J.J. said smiling.

"Where's my doctor?" Hotch asked. "Surprised he isn't in here."

J.J. got quiet. She wasn't sure what she should say. Telling him that Laura was running around with guns probably wasn't the best thing to tell him, but what good would lying do? She could avoid the question, but it would only be a few minutes before the hospital would be swarming with officers. She wished someone else was there with her so she wouldn't have to tell him alone, but she didn't have that choice.

"Laura broke out of jail a little while ago," J.J. finally said. "Morgan put the hospital on lockdown and a lot of doctors and nurses left when he did. I don't know if your doctor was one of them. Reid is back from the morgue, and the sheriff is at the nurse's station."

"Laura is out of jail?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, but she couldn't have gotten far," J.J. said trying to assure him. "The sheriff has police all over the forest. They are going to find her."

"I need to get out of this bed," Hotch said.

"No, you're staying right here," J.J. said standing up. "We have everything under control."

"Sheriff has nothing under control or that woman wouldn't be running around," Hotch said quickly. "She is going to be coming after me and Reid. She's on her way right now. She's probably already outside. Do you have people looking for her out there?"

"Hotch," J.J. said. "We are going to find her. There's no way for her to get into the hospital."

Just as J.J. was going over to look out the window herself Garcia let herself in. J.J. turned around, and saw that something was very wrong. Garcia's hair was messed up, and it looked like she had dried mascara under her eyes. J.J. took a second to look outside, and she saw police cars everywhere. Hotch swung his legs over the bed, and was looking for his wheelchair when the sheriff's voice filled the room. He told everyone that Laura Bates was in the building, and that Laura needed to pick up a phone and call them.

"Garcia," J.J. asked as soon as the sheriff stopped talking. "What's going on?"

"Please don't ask me that," the other woman answered. Garcia knew exactly what was happening. She just didn't want to tell Hotch.

"Laura got in the hospital?" Hotch asked.

"Yes," Garcia told him in a tiny voice.

"How? How does that even happen?" J.J. asked. She walked around, and shut the door behind Garcia. "Sheriff Bill had every officer out here. How would she get in? Is he sure?"

"Yes," Garcia said again. "She's dressed as a nurse, but I don't know if she is still in the hospital. She might have left by now."

"She's not leaving until she gets what she wants," Hotch said.

Garcia didn't say anything. Instead, she looked at her feet and avoided eye contact with J.J. and Hotch. J.J. nearly fell over. Why wasn't she saying that Hotch was right? Where was Reid? J.J. had a sudden urge to run out of there and look for Reid. Why didn't she visit him first? Why weren't there cops guarding his door? She wanted to believe that he was still safe in his room, but if he was, why wasn't Garcia telling them this?

"Where is Reid?" Hotch asked before J.J. had the chance to change the subject.

"I don't know!" Garcia blurted out with such force that tears ran down her face. "I don't know where he is! I went to check on him. I wanted to make sure that he was still sleeping and that they were changing his room further from the elevator and I found his doctor. And then we went to his room, and Reid wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere. And I told Morgan and then Morgan told everyone else, and they are looking for him."

J.J. pulled out her phone to check for any missed calls or messages, but there were none. She couldn't believe it. Her worst nightmare came true. Laura had Reid. If Reid was awake by then, what was he thinking? That his team, his family, abandoned him? What was Laura doing to him? She had a strong feeling that Laura wouldn't kill the boy genius right away, but that just made everything worse. If she wasn't going to kill him right then, she was hurting him and Reid was so fragile already. He had all those stitches in his back, and his ribs were just starting to heal. This couldn't be happening.

"So you don't know for sure if Laura has him?" J.J. asked.

"No, I don't, but we can't find him," Garcia said.

J.J. didn't know what to do. She wanted to help the rest of the team. She wanted to go door to door and find Reid, but she couldn't just leave Hotch and Garcia. Hotch was already trying to leave. It wouldn't be fair to make Garcia try to keep him here alone. She had to stay. She was so lost in her thoughts that she jumped when the door was slammed open. She turned around, and was relieved to see it was only Rossi.

"Glad to see you guys are all here," he said.

"Where's Morgan and Prentiss?" J.J. asked.

"I don't know where they went," Rossi said. "I was actually hoping they came by here."

Hotch pulled the wheelchair over to his bed, and managed to hop inside it without the help from anyone around him. Garcia was the only one that noticed. J.J. felt like she was in a daze. The little safe world she created was crashing down around her and she couldn't stop it. What was she supposed to do? She leaned on the wall to support herself as Garcia ran over to stop Hotch from leaving. She never wanted to in her more bed more than in that moment, but she couldn't. Even if there was a plane sitting outside right now, she wouldn't get in. She would never leave without Reid. She pushed herself off the wall, and listened to the sounds of the officers running around. They were going to find him.

* * *

><p>Laura knew that blackie left the lady agent out in the hallway, but that didn't bother her one bit. She was having a fantastic time alone with Reid. She had him against the wall, and she was kicking him as hard as she could. This was good for her. She needed to get all of her anger and frustration out. She was kicking her boys. She was kicking for her home, and she was kicking in the memory of her husband. Reid tried fighting back as hard as he could, but he couldn't move his hands or his legs so it was nearly impossible. She loved this. She kicked him in the face with her silly crocs, and watched him twist to try to get away from her. She grabbed his hair, and brought him close to her face.<p>

"Ain't this fun?" she laughed at him. "Look at me!"

Reid refused to, but she wasn't going to stand for that. This kid had no right to even be in a hospital when her husband couldn't. She took the gag out of his mouth, and got down on her knees. She wanted to hear him scream. His stupid team already knew where they were so she didn't need to keep him quiet anymore. He started coughing as soon as it was out, and she smacked him on his bloody cheek when he leaned her way. She used one of the little knives to cut the blue boxers away from his body. He flinched, but he didn't flip out like he did when Daniel stripped him down. Maybe it was because she already saw, and personally messed with everything he had. She really hoped Hollywood was up for another sexy show.

"Have a nice sleepy time?" she asked him.

"If you're going to kill me, just do it. Why put it off?"

"Well, gotta wait for Hollywood. I'm really hoping he'll finish what he started with ya. Think he's up for it?"

"Your boys aren't coming," Reid said with a dark voice. "They are dead. Joseph is dead. Daniel is dead, and Benjamin is dead. You're the only one left in your family."

"No they aren't," Laura said.

"Joseph died in the living room, and Daniel was shot and died outside," Reid said. "He bled to death in front of your house. They're gone, and you will never see them again."

Laura grabbed his neck, and slammed him against the wall, but Reid never let down his gaze. Neither did she. She wasn't afraid of some virgin kid. She took a knife out of her pocket, and stabbed it in his lower stomach. Reid didn't look away until she started twisting it around, and that finally made him scream. She yanked it out, and savored the pain in his voice.

"Don't touch him!" lady agent yelled from outside.

"Come on in friend of blackie," Laura coaxed. "You're going to have to bury him pretty soon. Bloody bodies stink more than natural deaths. Ain't that right sweetie pea?"

"I'm okay Prentiss," virgin yelled to her.

Laura was getting sick and tired of these games. She didn't like it one bit that Reid wasn't some pathetic little soul like he was when they first took him. What happened between now and then? She crawled behind him, and pushed him forward. She was going to make him suffer like he deserved. She still had her hand on the bloody knife, and she ripped the stitches out of his back one by one. Reid whimpered with every single cut, but she didn't stop until every single one was out. She even decided to dig her knife into the biggest wound he had, and he screamed. She was finally feeling like herself again. She ripped the bandage away from his rear end, and immediately stuck her knife right up there to destroy those stitches as well. She didn't take the knife out until she felt them tearing, and when she got the knife back in front of her, it was dripping in fresh blood. Reid was breathing heavier with tears falling from his eyes, but he still had the nerve to look at her.

"Had to open that back up for round 2, don't ya think?"

"Do what you want," Reid managed to say.

She looked back at her work and smiled. Virgin was covered in fresh bruises, and blood was escaping from all the torn stitches. She was sure that he would bleed to death in minutes if she left him like that. He was losing a lot of blood and quickly. If the lazy agents didn't hurry, she would never get her sexy show. She didn't know if the stab she gave him in his tummy was fatal or not, but that one seemed to be causing him more pain than the bloody mess on his bum. She wished Daniel was there. He would know why. Just thinking about him being dead killed her inside. Her precious baby couldn't be dead. He couldn't! She kicked Reid once more in his side, and turned around. She didn't want to look at him anymore.

"Got a question for you lady," Laura called out to the woman standing just outside the door.

"What?"

"Is there an important organ or something in someone's tummy?"

"What?" the woman shouted.

"You heard me. And I thought FBI folks were supposed to be smart. Stabbed virgin boy in the tummy a little while ago and he ain't looking that hot."

She wasn't lying. It was only a few minutes ago, and the virgin was already looking more pale than Casper the friendly ghost. He was breathing heavier and while the jerk still had that defiant look written on his face, he was looking weak. She must have hit him in the jack pot.

"I'm okay Prentiss," virgin told her.

"But he's not," Laura sang out.

"If something happens to Reid before the others get here, they wouldn't even consider you letting you see Hotch," the lady shouted.

"He ain't dyin," Laura said glaring at the virgin kid. "He's just bleedin. Lots. Lots and lots."

Reid didn't argue that time. It looked like he was still trying to figure out a way to get out of his restraints, but every time he moved just a little, he gasped loudly. She saw a thin trail of the red liquid coming from where he was sitting, and she imagined that cutting the stitches open the way she did probably wasn't the best idea. If the idiot somehow managed to bleed to death, that was probably just the karma for all of the terrible things he did. He was the reason that her precious baby was dead. She didn't feel one ounce of sorrow for his suffering. He deserved it and more.

"I can tell you though, right now, that if you don't send Hollywood in soon, this kid will die," Laura threatened. She didn't care anymore. She didn't have any ideas of how she would escape without the help of her boys.

"They aren't going to send Hotch in here," Reid told her in a voice just above a whisper.

"If they want you to live they will," Laura said sharply.

"You're going to kill me either way, aren't you?"

"I might."

"So why would they send another person in here?" Reid asked. "Sending Hotch in here wouldn't save me. It would just be putting someone else in danger."

"You want me to kill you now?" Laura asked turning around. "Is that what you're saying? I'm sure this cute little knife could finish the job easy."

"Ma'am, please let me in," the lady called from outside the door. "Please! I was in the car too when you first abducted them."

"We left you behind for a reason!" Laura shouted at her.

She looked back at Reid, and he finally broke his eye contact with her. He was still struggling to no avail to get out of his restraints. The broken flesh on his stomach didn't seem to clot properly. It was still running freely, and she could just make out the bloody stains on his back from where she broke the damned stitches open. He was a mess, and she loved it. She was finally starting to feel like her old self again.

"You listen to me agent lady," Laura said loudly. "If Hollywood ain't up here in 10 minutes, I'm killing the kid. Got it?"

"Ma'am, please listen," the other woman pleaded.

"Done playing games," Laura snapped. "10 minutes. All ya got. Understand?"

"Laura, you need to let me inside," Prentiss begged.

The door handle started jiggling so Laura got the gun out of her pocket, and dropped back on the floor next to her hostage. She put the gun next to his head, and he immediately stopped moving. She could hear his breath speeding up.

"You better stop movin that handle girlie," Laura warned. "Bet you couldn't guess where my gun is right now. Wanna guess or wanna keep twistin the handle?"

The jiggling handle stopped. She waited to make sure the woman wasn't going to break down the door, but it got quiet on the other end. She couldn't understand why these idiots were going through so much to save this kid. He wasn't worth all this time or energy. The killer of her child wasn't worth anything. He would be dead already if she didn't want to see Hollywood so badly. She did miss that handsome chuck of meat.

"Please don't let Hotch come in here," Reid called out suddenly. "Please Prentiss."

Laura didn't care what he said. She knew the woman out there was so desperate to get the kid back, she would do anything.

"Keep on talking dork," Laura growled at him. "Do it."

She put the gun back in her pocket, but she pulled the bloody knife back out for him to see. She wanted him to be scared. She loved it.

"I don't care," Reid said with a voice that was trembling. He was terrified. "Do whatever you want to me. If you kill me, you'll never get to see Hotch so do it."

Laura smiled and scooted towards him. He looked nervous as she reached forward, and she grabbed between his legs hard. She yanked his member, and Reid screamed. She couldn't help herself. He wanted to act some big tuff guy, but all boys were the same. She pulled it, and smiled as he twisted his body around in agony.

"What are you doing to him?" the other woman yelled.

Laura laughed and laughed and laughed. She finally let go, and tears were streaming down the kid's face. It was a real shame that her husband wasn't around to see this. He would have loved it. Reid turned his tired body over to one side, and Laura got finally see the horrid condition his back was in. She wondered for a second if she cut too deeply into the healing wounds, but she didn't care. He deserved all of this pain and more. He deserved to die just like her family.

* * *

><p>Rossi hated it when people didn't tell him anything. When he got back with the officers from searching the floor they were on, Prentiss and Morgan were both gone. He assumed they were also looking for Laura, and so he decided to go check on Hotch. He texted Morgan telling him that they weren't able to find Laura, but the hospital was large. She could be hiding anywhere. He needed to ask the security there if they had any video cameras. That would be any easy to find where that woman was hiding. His gut was assuring him that she was still in the hospital somewhere. His next guess was the basement or attic if they had one. Reid was probably sleeping when she found him so there would be no way for her to wheel him out into the woods. The wheels couldn't handle the mud and stones, and she was too little for her to just carry him.<p>

He made up his mind as he was searching that rooms that he wasn't going to lie to Hotch. He had every right to know about what was going on especially since it concerned him. He wasn't going to mention the details unless Hotch asked about it. He had everything worked out in his head until he finally got in the room. Hotch was already in a wheelchair with Garcia at his side. J.J. was leaning against one of the windows on the far side of the room. He could tell by their faces that Hotch already knew that Laura was in the hospital.

"Where is the sheriff?" Garcia asked him.

"I haven't seen him since I got here," Rossi said. "Heard his angelic voice on the speakers, but I have yet to see his smiling face."

"Have you seen Morgan or Prentiss?" J.J. asked.

Rossi never saw them leave, but as he was about to answer, something touched his shoulder. He turned around to find Morgan and the doctor standing behind him. Morgan was covered in sweat like had been running a marathon or something.

"Great minds think alike," Rossi said to himself. He was trying to break the awkward silence in that room. "You found where Laura is hiding?"

"Yes," Morgan said.

"What does she want?" J.J. asked.

"Well," Morgan said looking around. "Her first demand is to see her kids. She wants them brought to her."

"And she wants me," Hotch said speaking up.

"This is my idea," Morgan said ignoring Hotch. "She said she will kill Reid if any of us break the door down, but I'm thinking that if all of us go running in there, she wouldn't have time to shoot him. If she does, Dylan could fix it right up."

"Not if she shoots him in the head," Dylan said quietly.

Everybody fell into a silence with the voices running through their own heads. Laura would kill Reid if anybody but Hotch came through the door. Sending Hotch in would not guarantee Reid's safety. It would just be putting another person in danger, and while that didn't seem logical, Laura would certainly not hesitate to murder Reid if her demands weren't met. Rossi got a headache just thinking about it.

"We can give Hotch a gun," Rossi suggested. "He can hide it in his gown or something."

"She would see it," J.J. said. "I'm sure she is going to look over him before she lets him get even close to Reid."

Morgan's phone started vibrating loudly through the fabric of his pocket. He pulled it out and put it on speaker without even checking to see who it was.

"Morgan," he said. "You're on speaker."

"Don't know if you guys have a plan yet," Prentiss said from the other end. "But please, hurry back. She is putting us on a timer."

"How long?" Garcia asked.

"10 minutes."

"What is she doing in there now? Can you hear anything?" Rossi asked.

"She's singing. It's really weird. I haven't heard anything from Reid for a few minutes. He was screaming and then it got quiet."

"He's quiet?" Garcia cried out. "If he's quiet, then how do you know if he's…? Oh my God, oh my God."

"He's still alive," Prentiss said. "She's not going to get what she wants if anything happens to Reid. She knows that. I made it perfectly clear, but she isn't going to wait. Please hurry guys."

Rossi could just hear Laura's sick singing as Prentiss hang up. The air was heavy as they decided what to do. Rossi couldn't see any way around sending Hotch inside. He was sure they could put someone in a hospital gown, and try to pass that person off as Hotch, but if Laura figured it out, Reid would be dead. He wasn't willing to put Reid's life on the line.

"Agents, you in there?" Sheriff Bill called out. He always did have perfect timing.

"I'll keep him busy," Morgan volunteered. "Just figure something out."

The others waited for Morgan to leave, and they listened in silence as Morgan led the sheriff and the officers in the opposite direction. That would buy them some time to think.

"Any ideas?" J.J. asked solemnly.

"I got it!" Dylan exclaimed. Rossi forgot the doctor was still in the room. "We can hide the gun in his cast."

"It doesn't look like it will fit," J.J. said quietly.

"Just got to make it a little bit bigger," Dylan replied. "Just wider around the thigh area. Maybe I could even make something like a pocket so the gun could fit without causing any discomfort."

Nobody said anything at first. Dylan's idea was very plausible, and if Laura wasn't planning on giving him a full body search, the idea would probably work. Rossi just wished it wasn't Hotch that had to go through with it. He still wasn't well, and making him face the source of his suffering could only have negative consequences. He would see Laura, and be forced to relive all of the horror he was trying so hard to get over. Life wasn't fair. He had come to accept that long ago, but this was pushing it. There were just too many things that could go wrong. Laura could discover the hidden gun and kill them both right then and there. Hotch could miss the shot somehow or Laura could kill him as soon as he shut the door behind him. What if Reid was already dead? Then they would be sending as injured man to face a psychopath for no reason at all. Rossi didn't like to think about it, but if they just sat around, Reid would die.

"Okay, I'm ready," Hotch said to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Take the first shot you can," Rossi heard himself saying. "Don't wait."

"I know. This has gone on for way too long," Hotch said.

Dylan didn't wait for any approval. He got to work looking in the drawers he needed, and stretched out the cast considerably above the knee. Hotch didn't have any emotions showing on his face, but Rossi could almost hear his heart pounding. Garcia was near tears, and it looked like J.J. was having trouble being able to stand on her own 2 feet. The doctor even looked scared out of his mind, but it was stoic Hotch that Rossi was most concerned about. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking about. Hotch had his eyes glued to what the doctor was doing. Rossi knew he was never supposed to profile the others on his team, but he was so afraid of what their chief leader was going through. Every single one of them, excluding Garcia most of the time, had a tendency to hide their emotions. Rossi was guilty of that as well, but not like Hotch.

"Hotch, you don't have to go," Rossi said. "I'm sure there is another way. Maybe we could find a male nurse that looks like you."

"We have 6 minutes," Hotch said firmly.

"How does it feel?" Dylan asked. He backed up and looked at his work. Rossi barely noticed a difference, but Hotch was moving around a little.

"Feels a little looser," Hotch said.

"Do you think it will work?" J.J. asked handing him her gun.

Hotch put the weapon in the cast and pulled it out with ease. Garcia jumped back because it happened so fast, but J.J. still wasn't looking that well. Dylan was noticing her leaning against the wall again too, and he was back on his feet next to her. This had to work out for them. All of it was going to end tonight. It had to. Laura would either be in custody or dead by the end of the hour, and their team would be going home.

* * *

><p><em>Reid was walking through a long hallway with large windows on the right side. Sunshine was pouring in, and warming his back. He had absolutely no thoughts running through his usually busy mind. He felt at peace, but some reason, he never questioned where he was. He listened to the sound of his own footprints as he walked down the hallway. There were lockers lined up against the wall across from the windows, but he didn't hear any students talking or bells ringing overhead. There was nothing, and while that would probably give him the chills on most days, he wasn't scared at all now. He opened the first door he saw, and was almost blinded by the bright sunlight in that room.<em>

_When his eyes adjusted, he saw lines of desks facing a blackboard. There were no students running around or books on the desks. It was eerily silent, but he wasn't afraid. He walked down the row of desks against the window and found a crumbled up piece of paper on the floor. He picked it up to see what it was, and as he was folding it back out to the best of his ability, he saw what looked like a dragon. It was very well drawn, but it wasn't finished. Something interrupted the artist before he had a chance to complete it. _

"_You should leave that where you found it," a familiar voice told him._

_Reid dropped the paper, and looked for the source of the voice. He already knew who it was, but he didn't see her standing there until that very moment. Kate was standing in the back of the room wearing her light pink sweater and dress pants which is something she would have normally wore in her classroom. Her light brown hair fell gently across her shoulders, and she was wearing that necklace that she wore until her death. She looked healthy though. She didn't look anything like the mess that the Bates family left her in. She had color in her cheeks, and her fingernails weren't broken from struggling in those chains. _

"_Kate?" Reid asked. He couldn't believe he was seeing her again._

"_You have a long road ahead of you."_

_He barely heard what he said. He ran as fast as she could and hugged her as tightly as he could. His arms didn't go through her or anything. She was as solid as he was, and he never wanted to let go. The sunlight was warming her hair, and he rested his head on her shoulder. For the first time in a long time, everything just felt right. Kate was the one that finally broke the hug._

"_You need to stay awake," Kate said._

"_Why? What are you talking about?"_

"_Your team needs you," Kate said looking into his eyes. "You can't go to sleep."_

"_I'm so sorry Kate," Reid said. "It's my fault. It really is. I shouldn't have let Joseph take you. I was supposed to keep you safe."_

"_There was nothing you could have done," Kate said smiling. "I made my choice, and now you have to make yours. No matter how bad things get, don't fall asleep."_

"_I'm never going to see you again? Am I?" Reid asked her._

_She kissed him on the cheek and smiled. _

"_It was nice meeting you Doctor Reid."_

_The sunlight from the windows suddenly filled the room, and Reid grabbed onto her hand so they wouldn't get separated. The walls around him disappeared, and the he could no longer feel the hand that he was holding so tight onto. He closed his eyes, and the warmth that was once feeling his body was gone. The light was gone, and Kate was gone._

Reid woke up slowly. His mouth was dry, and he was cold. He imagined he kicked the blankets off the bed in his sleep, but something still didn't feel right. He was in a sitting up position against something hard. It certainly wasn't a bed. He wished that he could just continue sleeping. He had already forgotten his dream, but he was sure it had something to do with Kate. If he could just sleep for a few more minutes, he was sure that he would remember it, but he couldn't. Something was wrong. His hands felt like they were falling asleep, but when he tried to move them, they wouldn't budge an inch. His eyes shot open, and the first thing he saw was Laura smiling at him.

"Miss me?"

He opened his mouth to scream or call for help or make any kind of noise he could, but Laura lunged at him. She stuffed some kind of pillow case deep in his throat. He couldn't breathe at all. He fought her as much as he could, but she had him tied tightly against a pipe or something on the wall. He still tried to scream, but his voice couldn't be heard past the fabric. He remembered that she had escaped from jail, but how did she get in the hospital? How did she find him? Where was his team? He couldn't even tell if he was still in the hospital or she found some abandoned building nearby and planned to kill him there. He pulled as hard as he could against his restraints, but Laura pulled a gun out of her pocket. He stopped moving as soon as he saw it.

"This ain''t a dream sweetie pie," Laura said. "You is here. I'm here, and we're together. Doesn't this sound like fun? Not goin lie. I thought about you every single day. Did you think about me? I'm sure you did."

She got on her knees next to him, and she ran one of her fingers across his cheek. When he was locked in the Bates house the first time, most of his interactions had been with Benjamin or Daniel. He was even with Joseph a few times, and in some ways, he did prefer them. At least he knew what they were capable of doing. With Laura, he had no idea what to expect and it was terrifying. He tried turning his face away from her, but she yanked him back by his hair and cut his cheek open with a silver surgical knife. It hurt, but he managed to keep himself quiet until she put her fingers in the wound and spread the blood across her cheek.

"Think that will scar virgin?"

Reid didn't care if it scarred or not. He was still in the hospital. He knew that much. He saw a little sink near the door, and a whiteboard that doctors used to write notes on for the patients, but this hospital room hadn't been used in a long time. There was dirt on the floor, the window had long cracks in the glass, and there was a sickening stench coming from what Reid presumed was the bathroom. It was the ideal setting to get an infection.

"Ain't no one out there sweetie. Ain't no one comin for you. You know what could be interesting though? When Hollywood shows his pretty face, you think he could put on another show? You know, finish what he started?"

Reid brought his bound up legs up to his chest out of instinct. He was praying that Hotch would never see this room. He wasn't afraid of Hotch. He just never wanted the older man to have to see Laura again. That would be too much for him to handle.

"You're going to die tonight. You know that? I'd tell you it wasn't going to hurt, but I ain't no liar. It's going to hurt. Hurt bad."

If they were still in the hospital, his team was going to find him. He just had to hold up until they got there. They were going to be there any minute, and if Reid could make it out of an entire houses of psychopaths, he could certainly handle just one.

"Laura Bates," a strange voice announced over the intercom. "We know you are still in the building. Please pick up the phone so we can talk."

"And so it begins," Laura said smiling.

She pointed the gun at Reid's face, and at the very last second, she directed it to above his head. She blasted it, and Reid screamed. It missed him by mere inches. His heart was pounding and he had a difficult time catching his breath with a gag, but he wasn't going to let Laura win. Reid just had to keep himself calm. He heard footsteps running down the hallway, and stop just outside the door. This was it. They found him.

"Laura Bates, this is Derek Morgan with the FBI. Open this door right now or I'll kick it down."

Laura sat down right next to Reid, and put the gun to the side of his head. He could hear her and Morgan shouting back and forth, but he couldn't make out the words that were being said. All he could focus on was the cold metal that could end his life in less than a second. He would become a statistic of people who were murdered doing their jobs, and he was scared. He didn't know how much time went by from Laura holding the gun to his head to her tearing the gag from his mouth. She pulled it out and slapped him across the cheek.

"Say something," she whispered.

"I'm here," Reid called out to Morgan.

"Reid, are you alright?" Prentiss asked. Reid didn't know that Prentiss was out there too.

"She has a gun to my head," Reid heard himself saying. "I'm scared."

Reid heard Morgan say something else, but he couldn't make it out as Laura forced the filthy rag back into his mouth. He struggled with the cloth holding him in place while his captor talked to Morgan, but it wasn't budging. The more he fought, the stronger it felt against his wrists. He didn't even see Laura raise the gun for the second time, but when she shot, he screamed again through his gag. The bullet landed in the wall beside him. He was looking at the hole it left when Laura started kicking him. She kicked his arms, his chest, and when he managed to turn away, she was kicking his back which hurt more than anything. He tried not to say anything. He was sure that his cries gave her some kind of sadistic pleasure, but he couldn't control the grunts that escaped from his throat with every kick she gave.

"Look at me," she told him, but Reid refused. Why would he want to see her black eyes any more than he already had to?

She kicked him on his bleeding cheek, and his head swung to the side of his body. She got down beside him, and cut his boxers away from his body. The cold air gave him goose bumps on his upper thighs, and he it was hard to stop coughing when she finally took the gag out of his mouth. He felt her hands rubbing on his legs, but he chose to finally look her in the eyes.

"If you're going to kill me, just do it? Why do you keep putting it off?"

He stared at her as she tried to scare him with mentions of rape, but he wasn't afraid. She could threaten him all she wanted, but she wasn't going to win this time.

"Your boys aren't coming," Reid said with a dark voice. "They are dead. Joseph is dead. Daniel is dead, and Benjamin is dead. You're the only one left in your family."

If someone asked Reid why he finally told her that, he wouldn't have any answers. In fact, if he probably thought it through, he wouldn't have told her. He knew that she was in denial, as most mothers are after the sudden loss of their children, but she needed to know that she was alone in the world. She could shoot Reid in the head if she wanted to, but that wouldn't bring back the boys that she claimed to love. They both died without ever knowing true love from a mother or the joy of having a family, and it was all of her fault.

She pulled the surgical knife out from one of her pockets, and stabbed him in the lower stomach. He couldn't even feel it at first. He felt some discomfort, but that was all. It didn't really hurt until she started twisting it breaking open more of the skin. Fiery pain seared through Reid's body and he screamed. He could hear Prentiss shouting, but he could barely catch his breath. He didn't know if it was because the knife was dirty or because of where she stabbed him, but the pain was almost too much for him to handle. Tears ran down his face, and when she finally took the knife out of him, he took deep breaths to control himself.

"I'm okay Prentiss," he told her as loud as he could. It hurt, but Laura wasn't going to win.

Laura kicked him in the back again, and when he somehow turned away from her, she started ripping all of the stitches from his back. He flinched every time he heard the string cut off from his body, and she sliced the ones that weren't budging with her fingers. He couldn't get away. No matter how hard he pulled his hands, they couldn't get loose. His back was getting wet with his own blood, and he screamed again when she dug the blade into one of the open wounds in his back. The blade twisted in his torn flesh, and the world was starting to spin around him. He could barely focus on anything, but he faintly felt the bandages from his rear end being torn away. He couldn't support himself sitting up anymore, but the second he leaned against the wall, he felt the blade going up into his body. He thought earlier that no pain could be worse than the stab, but this was no comparison. The delicate tissue tore open, and he screamed as loud as he could. She twisted the knife around, and tore it back out of him.

She pushed him back against the wall, and he hissed in pain as his bloody back touched the wall. He looked back up at her, and tried as hard as he could to focus on breathing. She was smiling at him and holding the knife up for him to see.

"Had to get that back open for round 2. Don't ya think?"

"Do what you want," Reid growled at her.

She kicked him in the side and finally turned away. He could hear Prentiss shouting, but Reid was feeling ill. His head was against the wall, and he was breathing through his mouth. He tried telling her that they were never going to send Hotch in there. It wouldn't even make sense to send that poor man who couldn't even walk to see his captor again. If someone was coming for him, it wasn't going to be Hotch, but he didn't know how that would ever happen. Whenever they touched the door handle, Laura was back with Reid holding the gun to his head. How could this possibly have a happy ending for him? He could barely remember when he first stepped foot in this town. It seemed so long ago, almost like another world. Back then, he really had no idea what to expect. He didn't even fathom that this case ending in death was a possibility.

"Do whatever you want to me. If you kill me, you'll never get to see Hotch so do it," Reid said as bravely as he could.

She got back on her knees with the knife in front of her, but instead of stabbing him again, she grabbed his member and pulled. The pain took his breath away. She roughly twisted in, and Reid tried to stay as still as he possibly could, but she didn't stop until he was crying. He heard her laughing, but he was feeling light headed. His member was sore, and there wasn't a part of his body that wasn't in pain. Was he dying? He laid his head back down on the wall, and closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see Laura dancing around him.

_Don't go to sleep._

Reid weakly opened his eyes. He was expecting to see Prentiss with a gun pointed at Laura, but the door was still closed. Laura was still twirling around the room. Nothing had changed, but he could still hear the voice in is head. He couldn't place it, but he knew he heard it before. He tried bringing his legs back up to his chest, but his legs refused to cooperate. He was too weak, and while he couldn't cover himself up, he could still keep his eyes open. He didn't know what he was staying awake for. Falling unconscious seemed like a much better idea. He would be far away from Laura and the constant pain would stop, but he decided to listen to the voice. He tried reciting one of his favorite books in his mind. That would keep him awake, but he knew it wouldn't last for long. Whatever he was waiting for had to happen soon. The average person had five liters of blood in their body, and they would lose consciousness by the time they lost two liters of blood. Reid couldn't tell how much he lost already, but he was feeling extremely weak and dizzy. He didn't have long left before the darkness finally took him.

* * *

><p>Hotch's heart was pounding in his chest, but he kept a cool composure as Rossi wheeled him out into the hallway. Dylan told them that he would meet them upstairs. He was getting something for J.J. who was starting to look pale, and Garcia chose to stay put. She didn't give them any explanations, and no one asked why. The hallway was a lot more crowded than Hotch ever saw it before. Lines of doctors and nurses were leaving, and the officers were trying their best to direct the traffic. Morgan came out of the line to meet them.<p>

"So what's the plan?" Morgan asked.

"Going to pay Laura a little visit," Rossi said. "Where is she?"

"Hotch is going?"

"We have a plan," Rossi said. "Where is Laura hiding?"

Morgan led them to one of the elevators, and Hotch kept his mouth shut on the way up. He had never been more scared in his life, but he wasn't going to let it show. When he got in that room, he couldn't look upset or worried. He had no idea what that woman was doing to Reid, but it wouldn't do any good to scare Reid. He had to look like he knew what he was doing.

When the elevator stopped, Morgan didn't run out. He waited for a minute like he was hoping that Hotch would change his mind, but that wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going to chicken out when Reid needed him the most. Morgan checked his watch, and eventually led them out of the elevator and turned the corner. Hotch could just see Prentiss standing in front of the last door. She had her gun by her side with her ear against the wall. She didn't turn around until they were almost there. Her eyes were red.

"Thank God, you're here," she said.

"Any news?" Morgan asked.

"Nothing. She's been singing, but I haven't heard a peep from Reid."

"Ring around the rosie, pockets full of posie!" Laura screamed. "Ashes! Ashes!"

"How could you sit here and listen to that?" Rossi asked.

"I've been trying to hear if Reid is moving at all in there. I can't tell," Prentiss answered.

Without waiting for anyone's permission, Hotch wheeled himself forward and knocked as loud as he could on the old door.

"Laura Bates, open the door," he ordered.

The singing stopped. He heard some kind of rustling around from inside, and then it got quiet again.

"Hollywood?"

"The one and only," Hotch replied. "Can I come in?"

"Door is unlocked, but if anyone else comes in with you or it ain't really you, virgin dies. Got a gun to his head right now. He'll be dead before you could say his name."

Hotch waited for the others to take a step back before he opened the door. He didn't want Laura to be able to even see them. The door opened with a loud creak, and he had to push it all the way open to get his wheelchair through it. The room that he went into was much darker than anywhere else in the hospital. The window's curtain was closed so the setting sun outside couldn't offer any light, and there wasn't even a framed picture on the wall to offer some kind of joy. It was empty other than a broken chair, a working chair near the window, and some random litter on the floor.

He didn't even see Reid at first. He had to do a second run-through of the room to finally find his youngest team member slumped in a corner. Reid was completely naked with his long legs spread out in front of him. His ankles and wrists were tied together with some kind of cloth, and the cloth on his wrists was tied onto a pipe in the wall to keep him in place. Reid's usually porcelain skin was covered in red spots and black bruises, and it was impossible to ignore the long gash right above his hip. While Hotch didn't want to look there, he noticed that the entire groin area was scarlet red, and that Reid was once again, sitting in a pile of his own blood.

Blood was everywhere. It was on the floor all around the young agent, on the wall behind him, and it was all over Reid's thighs. Hotch kept telling himself that there was no way possible for Laura to have raped Reid. Her husband and boys were dead, and Laura was only armed with guns, but Hotch was wrong. He saw the bloody knife in her lap, and just as she warned him, she had a gun against Reid's head. A thin trail of blood ran down the left side of Reid's mouth, and the skin that wasn't covered in bruises or blood was ghostly white in color. If this was any other case, Hotch would have considered the victim dead. There was just too much blood, and it didn't look like Reid was breathing.

"Ain't ya goin shut the door Hollywood?" Laura asked.

"Prove to me that he is alive," Hotch whispered. He was afraid that if he talked any louder, he would start crying. He couldn't be too late. He couldn't.

Laura smiled, and reached between Reid's bony legs and twisted his already red member. Reid's eyes opened wide and he screamed. His body withered in agony, and Hotch immediately regretted asking for any proof. He knew that he was dealing with a psychopath, but he wasn't expecting that. Reid closed his eyes again when she took her hand away, but she didn't put it back on her lap. She rested it on Reid's thigh.

Hotch kept his end of the deal, and shut the door behind him. He chose not to make eye contact with anyone waiting in the hall. He wasn't going to risk Reid getting hurt again. He locked the door, and wheeled around to face Laura. She was making little circles on Reid's thigh, but never lowered the gun down.

"Having sexy thoughts about him again? Aren't ya?" she asked with a laugh. "If you're up for it, I can turn him right around and you can give us another show. He won't even fight ya or maybe you could use his pretty little mouth for something fun."

"I came to see you," Hotch said.

"Oh really Mister Hollywood?" she asked. "Take off your gown hospital thing. Let's make sure you ain't hiding anything."

Hotch looked at Reid, and slowly took the hospital gown off. He was sure to send Reid into a panic attack if he saw Hotch sitting there in nothing more than boxer shorts, and Hotch couldn't blame him. He didn't realize how cold it was in there until the gown was off. He fought the urge to cover himself up from Laura's hungry gaze, and instead focused on the breathing of the boy genius. He needed that doctor in there now.

"Smart to only bring one gun with you," Laura said.

"What gun?" Hotch asked. His heart sped up, but he kept his composure.

"Gun between those sexy legs Hollywood," Laura laughed.

Hotch smiled. He had to get Laura away from Reid. He had to play along with her sick games until he got the angle he needed.

"Come on, can't you just give me a little show? For old time's sakes?"

She got on her knees, and forced Reid to lie on his side. Reid didn't fight much. He whimpered when she pushed him, but that was all. Hotch finally saw what was making the wall behind Reid so red. The kid's entire back was red with blood. Laura somehow managed to tear open all of his stitches, and Hotch fought the urge to puke when he saw blood was still coming out of Reid's rear. What had she done to him? It was obvious that she stuck her damned knife up there, but how far up? Hotch shuddered, and forced him to look away. He looked back at Laura's empty smile and black teeth and shook his head no.

"Can't do much with my leg like this, but I'd love to see you," Hotch said.

"Oh, I know you would, but what do I get out of it?" Laura asked.

"What do you want?"

"I was thinking, after virgin dies, which won't be long now, me and you can run off together. Live somewhere nice. Can't have any more kids, but I'm sure we can find some if you want a little boy or girl. Could be nice."

Was she asking him to marry her or something? Hotch cringed at the thought, but he had to get her away from Reid. She lowered the gun, but for some reason, her fingers were still pressing down on the cuts on his thighs.

"He's not a virgin anymore," Hotch said. "Remember?"

"Oh, I remember that sure, but he ain't never do somebody. Means he is still a virgin in my book."

"Come over here," Hotch said trying to change the subject. "Sit on my lap. I'm sure you'll like what you feel."

Laura giggled, and finally put the gun back in her pocket. Hotch spotted a second bulge, and figured that's where the second gun was. She left the bloody knife not far from Reid, but he wouldn't be able to get it. It didn't look like he could even sit up anymore. Laura stood up, and kicked Reid in his back as she walked towards Hotch. Reid finally fell on the floor. His arms were stretched in front of him, still tied to the pipe, but his eyes were closed.

Laura jumped on his lap, and her extra weight almost made the chair they were in collapse. Her hands went across his chest, and it was then that he noticed her hands were bloody. She was smearing Reid's blood all over him. She didn't seem to notice or care, but Hotch was sweating. All of this was taking too long. She moved her rump around in his lap, probably hoping to feel something extra, but Hotch was too upset to even notice. Laura was finally away from the kid, but how could he reach the gun with her sitting on him?

"Ain't ya even awake down there?"

"We need a bed," Hotch said.

"Sure there are beds somewhere on this level," Laura said looking around. "Floor looks too dirty for me too. Let's just wait for this idiot to die, and we can find a nice bed somewhere."

Hotch was trying to figure out how to get her off him when Reid's eyes slowly opened. Hotch couldn't believe it at first, but Reid was awake. Like Hotch was afraid of, Reid did look terrified of seeing Hotch in his boxers, but he seemed to get over it. Hotch kept looking at his cast, trying desperately to tell Reid that he was armed. He didn't know if Reid understood or not. Reid pulled on his restraints once more, but the effort took up a lot of energy, and it wasn't long before he was back in his original position. He took a deep breath and coughed. Laura turned around, and Hotch's heart dropped.

"Oh, look, how fun. He's awake!"

"Didn't think it would be so hard to kill an unarmed kid," Reid whispered.

Laura stood up quickly and took the gun out of her pocket. Reid glanced frantically at Hotch, and Hotch knew this was the moment. As fast as he could, he pulled the gun out of his cast. It didn't come out at first which caused him to panic, but it came out easily his second try. He aimed it at the back of Laura's head and fired four times. Time seemed to stand still. Laura stood there, and Reid was on the verge of passing out from blood loss, but Laura dropped the gun she was holding. Hotch saw blood fall from where she was standing, and only a second went by before she dropped. The gun slid across the room when her body hit it, and Hotch was glad to see the large hole in the back of her head. Her hair was matted with her blood, and for a moment, all Hotch could hear was his own breathing.

When he was sure that Laura was really dead, he looked up to see if Reid was still awake. Reid was staring at the body until Hotch moved his chair closer. Hotch smiled softly when the kid finally made eye contact. Reid looked scared out of his mind for a few seconds, and Hotch remembered he was naked except for his boxers. He wheeled himself back, and Reid relaxed enough to give him a tiny smile.

"She's dead?" Reid asked.

"It's over," Hotch confirmed.

Reid started laughing. Neither one of them thought this was ever going to end, and now Laura was dead in front of them. Hotch joined in the laughing until Reid started breathing heavy.

"She's dead," Reid said with a smile.

Reid tried laughing again, but it was too much for his body to handle. He took a deep breath, and then collapsed on the dirty floor. His head hit the ground with a loud thump, and Hotch unlocked the door as quickly as he could.

"Get the doctor in here! Now!" Hotch shouted at his team.

He moved out of the way just as Morgan kicked the door down. Prentiss was right behind him. Both of their guns were drawn until they saw Laura. Rossi ushered the doctor in just in front of him, and Dylan ran over to where Reid was lying. Rossi put his hand on Hotch's shoulder.

"I need a bed in here!" Dylan told them. "Get some of the nurses back in here. He needs to have surgery to get these stitches fixed."

He was taking the restraints off of the young agent when he finally noticed the blood still coming out steady from between Reid's legs. He spotted the bloody knife on the floor, and he turned around as if to ask Hotch what happened, but he didn't. Prentiss brought him a bed, and both of them got Reid out of the restraints and onto the bed. Morgan was already downstairs trying to see if any nurses were lingering around outside.

"How is J.J. doing?" Hotch asked.

"She was dehydrated," Rossi said. "Good doctor gave her some water, and tried telling her to rest. Don't think she listened to him, but she stayed downstairs with Garcia. How did it go in here? I was getting worried. We couldn't hear anything until the gunshots."

"I couldn't get her in the right angle. Reid helped. He made her turn around and that's how I got the shot. I was afraid he was dead when I got in here. He wasn't moving."

"He lost a lot of blood, but I'm sure Dylan will fix him right up."

"See that knife?" Hotch asked pointing over to it. "She…she raped him that thing."

"She can't hurt him anymore. She can't hurt you either," Rossi said gently.

Rossi went over to her and kicked her in the leg. Hotch didn't say anything. He was finding it hard to look away from that bloody knife, and he probably wouldn't have if Rossi didn't get hold of his wheelchair and take him out of there. As soon as Rossi shut the door behind them, Hotch started crying. He just broke down and cried. Rossi got down on his knees, and brought Hotch down in a hug. Hotch cried on Rossi's shoulder, and Rossi didn't say anything. Hotch cried until he didn't think he could cry anymore, and Rossi took him downstairs where the rest of the team was waiting. Their time with the Bates family was finally over.

* * *

><p>Garcia wasn't allowed to see Reid until the next morning. She could understand why. She didn't see them when they brought Reid back downstairs, but the look on everyone's faces told her more than she needed to know. Emily was the one who ended up filling her in on everything that happened. Garcia didn't want details. She just wanted to know that the boy genius was going to make it through all of this so when Emily mentioned a bloody knife, she covered her ears and refused to listen until Emily stopped. All that mattered was that nobody else was hurt. Reid was going to get better with the help from the doctor, and Hotch collapsed from mental exhaustion only about an hour after the ordeal. None of the others slept that night.<p>

Morgan and Prentiss kept themselves busy cleaning up the room that took Laura's life. Garcia didn't want to be anywhere near that place. It was evil. Rossi refused to leave Hotch, and J.J. was trying to explain to the sheriff why Laura was dead. It wasn't a task that any of the others were up for so nobody saw Garcia slip into Reid's room. The doctor told them that Reid wouldn't wake up till morning at the earliest, but that didn't mean she couldn't keep him company. If she had been with him earlier instead of sulking in the bathroom, they could be on the plane ride home by now. This was partially her fault, and she hated herself for it.

She swore that Reid almost died twice during the night. She heard the machine stop beeping like it should, but then she realized that she had only fallen asleep. When she woke up, the beeping was still there and Reid was fine. He was sleeping better than anyone else in the hospital was. She made sure that he was as comfortable as he could be, and rearranged the stuffed animals to help pass the time. When she sat back down, it took all of her will power not to fall asleep. It was just after 5am when Reid started moving around. He stretched out his fingers, and rolled his head to the other side of the bed. He slowly opened his big eyes and looked out.

"Oh Reid, you should still be sleeping," she whispered as soon as he saw her. "It's like really super beyond early."

"How's Hotch?"

"He's fine," Garcia said. "He's fast asleep."

"And Laura is dead?"

"She's gone forever and ever."

"I was worried I dreamed it," Reid said looking up at her. "I've been having really weird dreams so I wasn't sure."

"You shouldn't even be thinking about her," Garcia said. She pulled out the little box from her purse and placed it in front of him. It was just a tiny package with a red ribbon on it, but she was proud of it. She wasn't thinking she would be able to find anything to wrap it in.

"I don't need any more presents," Reid said. "I already have 26 in here, and 18 of them are teddy bears."

"You can never have too many presents," Garcia said smiling.

Reid shrugged, and pulled the package on his lap to unwrap it. She hated seeing him like this. He had bandages covering almost every inch of skin that she could see, and his black eye made him look a lot more pale than she could remember. He looked like a ghost, but she was just so happy that he was still alive. He came back to them, and she wasn't ever going to lose him again.

Reid took the ribbon off without ripping it, opened the box, and pulled out the little necklace from inside. He looked at it for a few seconds. She was hoping that he would remember it. He might have never noticed that Kate was wearing it, but a little voice told her that he would. He held it tightly in his hand, and finally looked back over at Garcia. She could see his eyes were watering, and with her luck, this would bring him into another panic attack, but he didn't.

"Where…Where did you get this?"

"You needed this."

"She was wearing this," Reid said looking back at the necklace. "How did you get it?"

"She would have wanted you to have it," Garcia said slowly. "I know there's no going back ever from what you have been through, but you're never going to be alone."

Reid smiled, and Garcia had to fight the urge to hug him as tight as she could. There were bandages all over his back, and it would probably hurt terribly if she hugged him.

"Thank you," he said. "Thank you so much."

He reached out his arms, and before she could stop him, he had his head resting on her shoulder in a deep hug. She made sure to keep her hands away any spots on his back that looked painful, but he never said anything. She heard his breathing, and she was crying before she knew it. She was trembling in his hold. He almost died. She almost lost him forever, and if that did happen, she would never get over it. But he didn't. He was there, and he was safe.

When the hug was finally broke, both of their faces were wet with tears. Garcia's nose was stuffed up, and Reid's hair was in his face.

"You should go back to sleep," Garcia said. "I'll be here when you wake up."

Reid nodded, and settled back down in his bed. He shut his eyes, and it took only a few minutes to fall back into a deep sleep with the necklace still in his hand. Garcia wiped the tears off her face with a tissue from her purse, and tried to keep as quiet as she could as to not wake her young friend up. She laid her head down, and was fast asleep next to Reid before she knew it.

* * *

><p>Morgan and Prentiss didn't finish with the room until after dawn. Morgan volunteered to go get them coffee, and so Prentiss thought it was a good idea to check on Hotch and Reid. She couldn't wait to get out of there. She chose to take the stairs instead of the elevator to get there faster, and nearly ran over Dylan who had fallen asleep at the bottom of the staircase. He jumped up when she stepped on his feet. He brushed his hair back and pulled his glasses up his nose.<p>

"Oh, sorry," Prentiss said. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be sleeping down here."

"My fault," Dylan said. "I got a headache so I sat down, and the next thing I know it, I'm dreaming about candy canes."

"Candy canes?" Prentiss said smiling. "That's always fun."

"Not exactly," Dylan said. "Don't always remember my dreams. Just assuming they were about candy canes."

"When do you think Reid and Hotch will be able to home?"

"I can get him ready to leave today," Dylan said. "The best healing he can do is at home. I'll probably have to give him something that will help him sleep on the way. You don't want either one of them to have an episode in the plane."

"But you think it will be okay?"

"Just get both of them straight to the hospital as soon as you land," Dylan said. "They shouldn't keep Reid for more than a month, and I wouldn't be surprised if they let Agent Hotchner go home next week. You just need to make sure they get enough rest. Both of them need that."

"Looks like you need it too," Prentiss said seeing the dark circles underneath his eyes.

"Just not used to being the only doctor in the hospital," Dylan said with a laugh.

"We cannot thank you enough," Prentiss said taking his hand. "Really. There isn't a better doctor in this entire state."

Dylan laughed.

"Ha! Tell my wife that. Nothing I can do can cure her late night headaches," Dylan said with a wink. "I'll go get the medications that the agents will need for their ride home."

"How are they?" Prentiss asked.

"Both sleeping the last time I checked, but Agent Reid will be just fine. Nothing that woman did to him will cause any permanent damage."

Prentiss nodded, and passed him on the way to their rooms, but she stopped. She turned around, and without thinking, she hugged the doctor. She broke the hug before he had any chance to react, and she hurried off to Reid's room. She needed to remember to find a better way to thank the doctor for all he did for them. He went above and beyond what was asked of him. She was sure that she could find him a job in a better hospital far away from Sheriff Joe.

She found Reid's room first. They finally moved him to a better room away from the elevators, but it was a little late now. She opened the door quietly, and saw Garcia fast asleep with her head on his bed. Reid had his face towards her, but he was also in a deep sleep. Prentiss was glad to see that he wasn't having any nightmares. She closed the door, and almost got lost looking for Hotch's room. Officers were roaming the long hallways again, and all the rooms were starting to look the same. She only found it because Rossi was standing outside the door.

"Prentiss?" he asked as she made around her corner.

"Is Hotch alright? What's wrong?" she asked looking over his shoulder.

"Hotch is fine," Rossi told her. "Been sleeping all night. Has anyone seen Rickie? I've been asking all the officers that were looking in the forest, but none of them saw him."

"I was upstairs all night," Prentiss said. "We did find something interesting though. Remember how they were saying that Laura had three guns on her? We found several knives, but only two guns so we don't know what to think."

"Something happened to Rickie. He would be here if he wasn't hurt."

"The sheriff told him to stay away," Prentiss said.

"How many teenage boys are good at listening?" Rossi asked. He was looking extremely agitated. Prentiss almost didn't want to tell him the good news from the doctor. "Something is wrong. Laura was asking him for her weapons, and she knew he didn't get them for her. She could have done something to him."

"Dylan just said Hotch and Reid can go home today," Prentiss said slowly. She didn't want to put off a search for Rickie, but they needed to leave. All that mattered was keeping Hotch and Reid safe. Keeping them here would only cause more stress and panic attacks.

"When?"

"He didn't give me a time, but I'm guessing sometime this afternoon so they can be home before dark. You want to go looking for Rickie, don't you?" she asked him.

"I could never sleep again if I didn't at least try to help him. He's still just a kid, and if she did shoot him, he might not be able to find his way back," Rossi said glancing at his watch. "I'll probably be back before they wake up."

Rossi pulled out his phone, and rushed pass Prentiss towards the elevators. She really hoped that he would find Rickie, but the forest was huge. Prentiss didn't have getting lost in a place like that. The rescuers would probably get lost looking for her.

"Where are you going to start looking?" she asked.

"Rickie's bike was last seen here so that means he was lost somewhere between here and his house. I'll walk from the hospital and take it from there."

"You shouldn't be going out there alone!" she called out to him.

"I won't," he shouted back. She watched him disappear behind the doors of the elevator with his cell phone in hand. She really hoped that he knew what he was doing.

She decided that since Rossi was gone, and Garcia was already keeping Reid company, that she should sit with Hotch. She quietly slipped inside, and sat down on the chair that Rossi was probably sitting on all night. Hotch was breathing deeply with his mouth slightly open. His broken leg was held above the bed with a sling, and one of his bandaged hands was across his chest. She hated seeing him like this more than anything, but at least he looked peaceful. He wasn't struggling through a nightmare or fighting some inner demon. If he was dreaming, it was a good one. He deserved that much.

She put her cell phone on silent, and tried to find a comfortable position in the stupid chair. They needed to make the chairs here easier to sit on. She was sure that her leg would be asleep by the time she stood up again, but at least Hotch would have a friendly face to see when he woke up. She found some book that J.J. must have left from earlier, and started reading it. Prentiss remembered reading it back in school. It was about four children locked in an attic, and while she already knew the ending, it was something to help pass the time.

* * *

><p>Morgan was already on his second cup of coffee when he saw Rossi hurry out of the elevators. He was sure that he could drink at least 5 more cups, but Rossi ran right up to him. Morgan finished the cup he was holding in less than a minute, and wiped his mouth with his hand.<p>

"What's up?" Morgan asked.

"Would you like to go on a little walk with me?" Rossi asked. "It's been almost 24 hours since anyone saw or heard from Rickie so I'm getting nervous. I just want to retrace the steps he took into the woods. We know he got his bike here, and was heading back home. If he did run into Laura on his way back, he couldn't be that far away." "How do you know that he just didn't run away or something?" Morgan asked filling up a third cup of steaming hot hospital coffee. "I'd rather check and make sure," Rossi said impatiently. "I would never live with myself if Rickie did need help and I didn't even try." Rossi was right. Of course Rossi was right. Morgan hated to think about some poor kid that couldn't even talk freezing to death in the snow. If Laura did shoot him, he could be bleeding to death out there and no one would even know. His foster parents were never going to win any parent of the year awards, and the sheriff didn't have the man power to go looking. The odds were against the 2 of them finding anything, but they could try. "Okay," Morgan heard himself saying. "Think if I start singing, some lonely princess will hear and help me finish the song?" "With your luck, only the friendly forest animals like birds and squirrels will help you finish," Rossi said smiling. Morgan found a lid for his last cup of coffee, and followed Rossi out. The parking lot was full of police cars, but everyone was inside. The sun was just starting to rise, and Morgan swore that it was colder right before dawn than any other time of day. He really hoped that poor kid wasn't out there somewhere. It would be a miracle for anyone to survive the bitter cold, wounded or not. He wasn't going to tell Rossi what he was thinking, but if Rickie was hiding underneath some tree or a bush, he would have frozen to death last night. The forest was still dark, but he could hear little animals moving about. Rossi was leading, but Morgan had his eyes wide. He kept expecting some bear or something to pop out and attack them. He knew that wasn't exactly reasonable, but he guessed he was on edge. He couldn't remember the last time he had a good night's sleep, but he probably needed more than just one night. He would need an entire month. He was planning on them turning around after about 10 minutes. He thought he could be doing more work back at the hospital. He didn't know much how much time had gone by when they reached a small clearing in the pine trees. His eyes were feeling heavy. He needed more of that damned coffee, and he felt stupid for not bringing any with him. His nose was cold, his lips were cold, and his fingers were feeling cold from inside the gloves he was wearing. He was getting ready to go back when he spotted something in front of a bush. Light snow was covering it, but something big was hiding there. He got on his knees, and pushed all of the snow out of the way. It was a bike, Rickie's bike, and the back tire was blown off. Rossi was staring at a tree just ahead of them.

"You were right," Morgan said quietly.

"She attacked him from behind," Rossi said turning around. "He was walking his bike home from the hospital, and she found him. She snuck up behind him, shot the tire off his back, and looks like she tried shooting him around here. There's a bullet hole in the tree."

"Rickie!" Morgan shouted realizing his mistake right after he said it. Rossi didn't criticize or scold him for calling out the deaf's boy name. Morgan kicked up the snow around the bike. Everything had been going so well. Reid was safe, Hotch was back in his room, and Laura was dead. Why did this have to happen? He looked down, and saw something sticking out of the snow he kicked. He stuck his hand down, and pulled out Rickie's little notebook. He held it up for Rossi to see, but he couldn't find any frantic notes to Laura written on it.

"Looks like he dropped it when she shot his bike," Morgan told Rossi. "There's nothing written in it."

"He couldn't even ask her why she was shooting at him," Rossi said.

"But there's no body here," Morgan said walking over to Rossi. He handed Rossi the notepad, and looked around the area. "If she killed him, there would be a lot of blood, and I don't see any. There has to be something."

Rossi examined the ground near the tree, and Morgan was looking around where the bike was. It didn't snow last night, but the odds of them finding any kind of blood seemed nearly impossible.

"Rossi, man, I don't think we're going to find anything."

"Wait," Rossi said. He kneeled down, and put his forefinger in the snow. He withdrew the finger, and Morgan saw the red. His eyes followed the zig zag path that the first drop of blood was found, and he could just make out the trail. It was light, but it was there. Rossi stood up, drew his gun out, and ran the direction that the blood led. Morgan stayed on his tail, and kept an eye out for any movement. Rickie could have been shot and hid behind a bush or something. Morgan didn't know how long they ran, or how many times they tripped or lost the faint trail. Morgan kept hoping that the kid would find his way out of the forest, but the track led them deeper and deeper into the already black woods. They didn't take a break from running until Rossi tripped for a third time and landed on his knees.

"You okay?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, I'm-" Rossi looked at the tree in front of him and held his breath.

Morgan stepped forward to see what he was looking at, and that's when he saw a stained circle of blood on the tree. The snow on the ground was pushed down like somebody had been sitting there, and there was a gun hidden near a dying bush. What really caught his eye though was the tissue tied to a stick on the ground. Morgan unwrapped it, read it, and gave it to Rossi.

_Laura's gun. I'm fine. Laura going to hospital. Don't look 4 me_

Rossi looked near tears at the note, but he picked up Laura's gun and put it in an evidence bag.

"He's alive," Morgan said.

"I know. I know he's alive, but...I don't know. He needs to go to the hospital."

"From the mark on the tree, I'm guessing he was shot in the arm or shoulder, and he did manage to run all the way over here from when he was shot. I think he's going to be alright. We can put out a search party and notify his foster parents, but I don't think anyone in this town is going to look that hard for him. He's almost 18, and from the looks of it, he doesn't want to be found."

"He doesn't have his bike or a weapon. I know he doesn't have any food with him or money. 'What's he going to do?"

"I didn't talk to him long, but I know that kids who are raised in foster homes or orphanages are stronger than we give them credit for. He can read lips, and he knows how to handle dangerous situations. I think he's going to make it just fine."

Rossi nodded, and took off his jacket. He put it next to the tree where the blood was, and he slipped one of his cards into the pocket. Morgan didn't need to question his actions. If Rickie did come back here, he would be able to use the jacket. If he was still wearing the one Morgan gave him, it had a hole in it. He would be able to put Rossi's jacket to good use, and if he did run into trouble or needed help, he could contact Rossi. The odds of Rickie coming back here were unlikely, but it was worth a shot. Morgan put one of his arms over Rossi's shoulders, and they turned around together. Morgan hoped that Rossi remembered the way back out. Morgan was already dreaming about his next cup of steaming hot coffee and the plane ride home.

* * *

><p>Reid woke up with a dry mouth and a strong headache. He was afraid to open his eyes. He was certain that he would see Laura dancing around in front of him and Hotch dead in the chair where he sat. What would he do if she killed Hotch? What could he do? His hands felt cold, and he was afraid to even move, but then he felt the necklace in his hand. He moved his fingers over the beads, and he slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Garcia's face fast asleep on his sheets. Her mouth was slightly opened, and her glasses were falling off, but she looked peaceful. As carefully as he could, he swung his legs over the opposite side of the bed. He spotted his crutches on the wall, and using up most of his strength, he got off the bed and over to them. Garcia made a little noise, but when he checked on her, she was still fast asleep. His body was screaming at him to get back in the bed. He was sure the doctor put him on some kind of medicine that would dim the pain, but every step was agony. He knew that he didn't have much time though. The second anyone saw him out of bed, his alone time was over. He couldn't blame them. He knew this probably wasn't the best idea, but he had to see Hotch. He had to make sure he was alright.<p>

The door was slightly open so he didn't have any trouble getting out, and there was only one nurse at the station. She was too busy on the computer to notice Reid. He kept close to the wall so in case his arms slipped, the wall would soften his fall. It took him longer than he hoped, but he made it around the corner and found Hotch's room easily. Garcia had a balloon tied to the door. He kept his eyes on the goal, and did his best to ignore the sharp pains that shot through his body with every step. He reached the door, but he had to take at least a minute to catch his breath. His bruised up legs weren't going to be able to hold him up for much longer. He pushed the door open with his shoulder, and hoped against hope that Hotch was in there alone. Most of the stuffed animals were gone, and the television was on. Hotch was sitting up in his bed, and Reid's heart sped up when he saw the chief leader was alone.

"Reid?" Hotch asked.

Reid slipped inside, and shut the door behind him. He tried taking deep breaths to calm his heart down, but nothing he did helped. Just the thought of being alone in a room with Hotch still terrified him. His body clenched up, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get any closer to the bed. If he wasn't leaning against the door, he would have fallen a long time ago. He squeezed onto the necklace that was still his hand. On some small level, that brought him comfort.

"Hi," he heard himself saying.

"What are you doing in here?"

"I just, I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Reid said.

"I am," Hotch said.

Hotch had one leg raised above the bed in a sling, but the other leg was moving underneath the sheet. He never tried to get off the bed though.

"Thank you."

"Thank me for what?" Hotch asked.

Reid licked his dry lips nervously, and squeezed the necklace again. Why did he still feel so nervous? He knew this was very common with people who went through experiences similar to his own, but this was Hotch. Hotch only did what he did to save Reid's life. Reid knew this very well, but he was still trembling. He hated himself for feeling like that.

"For saving my life," Reid said. "At the house and here. If you weren't there, I would have died. Both times."

"Reid," Hotch said softly.

"Thank you," Reid repeated.

"Reid?" Prentiss asked.

The bathroom door opened, and Prentiss stepped out with a look of shock written all over her face. She looked back at Hotch, but he didn't offer any kind of explanation. Prentiss hurried over to him, and took his support from the wall to her shoulder.

"What are you doing in here? We need to get you back to bed," Prentiss said.

Reid didn't say anything, but he let himself be escorted out of the room with Prentiss. He looked over his shoulder, and saw Hotch gently smiling at him. Reid returned the smile, but his heart didn't stop its constant pounding until he was outside his room.

"What were you doing in there?"

"I needed to see him," Reid told her. "He saved my life."

Prentiss nodded, and hugged him. She managed to get her arms in between the bandages, and while the contact did hurt, it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He was sure that she needed the hug just as much as he did, and he didn't break the hug until she did.

"Doctor said you can go home today Reid," she said smiling.

Reid smiled, but didn't feel like talking. His short lived adventure took a bigger toll on him than he thought. Prentiss must have sensed this as she put his arm around her neck, and helped him back into his room where Garcia was still sleeping. He got into the bed without any help, and laid down. Prentiss didn't leave until he closed his eyes, and as tired as he still felt, he didn't sleep. He was thinking about home.

* * *

><p><strong>SIX MONTHS LATER<strong>

Dylan was excited to finally be getting some much needed time off. His superiors wanted to pretend that everything that went on when the FBI was around never happened. He wasn't offered a better position in the hospital or better pay, but he didn't really expect them to. The sheriff tried his hardest to get Dylan fired for interfering with official business so he guessed he was lucky to have even kept his job. He never told his wife any details of what really went down when the FBI agent was under his care. She asked him several times, but he decided to keep the condition of the poor young man a secret. He wouldn't even talk to the sheriff about it which is one of the reasons he almost lost his job, but luck was on his side. His superiors decided Dylan was a good enough doctor to keep on the payroll, and Dylan had to work overtime to get this vacation he so desperately needed.

He tried getting off as early as he could that day, but he still didn't clock out until after 9pm that night. He texted his wife as soon as he got in the car. She was already packed, and their baby was sleeping peacefully in the car seat. They were ready to go as soon as he got there. He threw his doctor's coat in the back, and pulled out of the parking lot. He only lived a few minutes away , and the weather was finally warm enough for him to have the window rolled down. He was almost home when he drove into the gas station to fill the car up. It was no fun getting gas with his daughter in the car. The tiniest sounds woke her up, and she had a healthy pair of lungs in her.

_Be there in 5_

He put his phone on top of the car, and put the nozzle into his car. There was a breeze making the trees around the gas station dance, and blew his hair around his face. He positioned his glasses back up his nose, and was checking his phone when another car pulled up behind him. He didn't take any notice. His wife sent him a picture of baby Debbie sleeping, and Dylan smiled proudly. After all of his friends and coworkers told him that his baby's eyes would change colors, they never did. Her eyes were still as blue as the day she was born.

"Hey man," a stranger said from behind him. "I need directions. Can you help me?"

"Sure," Dylan said.

"Trying to find Willows and Main Street. Kinda hard to see the street signs in the dark."

Dylan put his phone down, and turned around. The man had a little ways to go, but he could be there in about half an hour. Dylan never saw the stranger's face. He was pointing his hand in the direction the man needed to go when the man raised a gun. Dylan didn't have time to ask why or even to duck away from the gun. The stranger fired it, and the bullet tore into Dylan's skull. Dylan's glasses fell off and cracked to the ground. Dylan took one final breath, and collapsed into the black street. He landed next to his broken glasses, and the stranger walked away. The paramedics weren't called until an hour later when the gas station owner found him. Dylan died alone in the street from a single gunshot wound to the head. He was 31 years old.

* * *

><p>It was already May, and the air was heating up quickly outside. Rossi loved the winter, but he was glad it was finally over. He was never going to look back. It was his first time back at the office since leaving the Bates hometown. There weren't any problems on the way home, and Strauss ordered Hotch and Reid to go to mandatory counseling services and group meetings. Hotch only spent a day or two at the hospital, but Reid was there for weeks. When he was allowed to leave, the team made sure he was never alone. Even when he was finally well enough to be on his own, there was always somebody sleeping outside his front door in their car. They were sure that Reid knew, but he never complained. He never mentioned it once. Rossi wasn't there for when Reid was abducted by Henkle, but he was just determined to keep the younger man away from drugs as the rest of them. He spent countless nights sleeping in his car, but he never heard any commotion coming from inside and Reid never called for him. He wasn't sure if Reid ever had any more episodes other than nightmares, he still had those constantly, but it looked like he was finally starting to heal. Hotch kept his stone face, and he refused to talk about what happened with anyone beside his psychologist. Rossi noticed that he still had a negative reaction to water, but only if the water had ice in it. Rossi was sure that Hotch would eventually come around when he was ready to face his demons. Rossi wasn't sure when that would be, but it was never a good idea to keep things bottled inside. Reid also never mentioned anything, but no one tried talking to him about it. They still weren't sure how he would react, and while he was healing, he still suffered from many sleepless nights. Rossi thought May still might be soon for Reid and Hotch, but both of them showed up early that sunny day.<p>

Rossi got there early, and watched as Hotch looked around his office and checked in with Strauss. He looked like his usual self, and if it wasn't for Rossi's trained eye, he wouldn't see the dark shadows hiding in Hotch's face. Reid got to work on his computer, and as the rest of the team started arriving, he got into one of his long winded explanations about how many galaxies really existed in the universe. It brought a smile to his face to see Reid like this again. He wasn't anywhere near Hotch, and Rossi imagined that would take time to get the two of them sitting next to each other again. Morgan was going to handle this first case to make sure that everything ran smoothly. Rossi wasn't sure how it was all going to work out, but there was only one way to find out. He turned around and walked into his office. Other than the dust, everything looked the same. Strauss recommended that all of them took a few counseling sessions just because of what they went though. It wasn't exactly common, and while Rossi didn't know about the others, he did go to a few classes. He wasn't sure how much it really helped though. He wasn't going to blame the counselor, but not one thing she did took away the gruesome images that were engraved into his mind. Those were going to stay with him for the rest of his life. He turned on his computer, and sat down. He was skimming through all of the unread emails when one caught his eye. He didn't recognize the email address, and it was just sent last night.

_ Hi Agent Rossi!_

_ I'm not sure if you remember me, but it's Agent Taylor from Tennessee. I worked with you and your team a little bit while you were down here with the Bates family. You gave me your card and told me to write every now and then so I finally am. Sorry it took so long. About a week after you guys all left, I quit the job. You were right. Bill was a sexist jerk, and it didn't take long for me to find a better job. I actually moved out of the state, but I still keep in contact with a few of the officers so they've kept me updated on everything that's going on.  
><em>

_All of the wood from the Bate's barn got destroyed in a fire ordered by the sheriff. He kept saying it was bad wood and no one argued with him about it. There was something interesting they found though. Right where you guys found all the hidden guns, a few of the guys kept digging and found another box. A tiny skeleton was in it wearing a pink dress and a pink hat. They didn't do any testing on it. Bill had it cremated so I guess we'll never know exactly who it was, but I'm betting you it was the baby that pink room in the house was meant for. It's sad we'll never know if it was even a girl or not. They said it was premature, but they didn't get to look at the remains that closely. The sheriff wanted to get rid of it just like the barn. It's funny though. The house is still standing. I have noooo idea what they are planning on doing with it. Apparently, it's all taped and boarded up so no one can get in. I just can't wait for Halloween. Bill is going to find himself in a whole world of trouble.  
><em>

_What else? Um, the principal had a little memorial for that student who was killed along with the teacher. It wasn't long, and I guess half of the students never bothered to show up. It's not a spoken rule or anything, but every person in that town wants to forget the Bates ever existed. No one talks about them, neighborhood kids don't go snooping around that house, and the sheriff refuses to talk to anymore of the reporters that still show up from time to time. I'm surprised any sane person could stand living in that town. I really was going nuts, and the sheriff never did hire any other female officers. Guess he isn't exactly living in this time period._

_Before I left, I went out by the tree you told me to, and I couldn't find your jacket anywhere. I mean, I guess someone could have taken it. It was a nice jacket and all, but I doubt someone would go wandering in the woods the day you guys left. I never saw Rickie though. I didn't really go out of my way to look and his foster parents never filed a missing person's report, and I'm pretty sure the sheriff forgot all about him. My cousin, who works in another town, did hear reports about a teenager hitchhiking but by the time she got down there, he was gone. I'm sure he's doing fine. He has your number in case anything does go wrong. Maybe you've even heard from him by now which would be great. I didn't know him that well, but he was a great kid. _

_I think the real reason I remembered to write you isn't a great one. I was debating whether or not to even mention it, but I decided you have a right to know. It just happened last night at a gas station just on the border of the town. Sheriff Bill keeps saying its an open and closed case which doesn't make any sense since they never found the person who did it. I think he's afraid that you and your team will want to come visit if he doesn't keep telling himself that he has everything under control. I need to stop putting this off. It's probably killing you who it was, and like I said, I'm only telling you because I know all of you guys liked him. It was Dylan Gable. He was the doctor for one of the agents. Don't remember which one, but I'm sure you will. From what I heard, he was getting gas when his shift ended and someone shot him in the head. They left his wallet, and there was a bunch of change in his car and they left that too so nobody can figure out what the motive was. His wife is beside herself with grief. Poor thing hasn't left the house since she identified his body. Sad, right?_

_Doubt this thought crossed your mind yet, but I wouldn't go back if I were you. Think the sheriff still blames you guys for everything bad that happened in that damned town. Just let the bastard continue thinking that everything is laa-de-daa, and that he will never have to face the consequences of everything he has done. I'm just glad I never have to see his face again. _

_I would love to hear how you and your friends are doing if you ever get the time. Hope you are all doing well, and enjoy your summer. _

_Officer Taylor_

Rossi almost jumped when he heard a knock at his door. He turned his head and saw Morgan peaking in.

"All ready?" Morgan asked.

"What? Yeah." Rossi said.

"Must be a good letter you got there," Morgan said smiling.

"You remember Officer Taylor? The only woman working for Sheriff Bill."

"Yeah, kinda hard to forget her. Why?"

"She wrote me to check in."

"Anything good happen? Maybe like she moved?"

"She moved, but Dylan Gable is dead. He was murdered last night at a gas station."

"Reid's doctor?" Morgan asked finally walking into the office.

"Yes, the one and only. Somebody shot him in the head."

"Don't tell Reid," Morgan said after a moment's pause. "Or Hotch. We are never going back to that town."

"Oh, I know," Rossi said quietly. "There's no reason to tell them. It would only set back the progress they have made."

It got quiet in the room as Morgan and Rossi watched the others pass by the window to the round table room. Garcia was at Reid's side, and Hotch walked alone at the end of the line. Rossi turned off his computer. He would write Taylor back later.

"Ready?" Morgan asked again.

"I'm ready," Rossi said standing up. "Let's do this. Any idea where we are off to this week?"

"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart." - Elisabeth Foley

_not going to write the end, but this is it. hope you guys enjoyed the story, and if any of you have any ideas for my next story, i'd love to hear them. i've had some of my favorite characters in this story including the tragic daniel, the feisty kate, and loner rickie. i already know everything that happens with rickie's life so if you guys wanna know for some reason, just write and ill tell but ya. oh, and i know A LOT of people will be asking y i put that random murder of a favorite character at the end of the story. just did that to show that the town will ALWAYS be corrupt. sheriff bill will continue pushing murder cases under the rug until it all blows up in his face and a town like that will NEVER be welcome of outsiders which included the teacher, reid and morgan, the student who was killed, and pretty much every single victim i had in this story. and reid's dream sequence, ill let you guys decide for your own if that was just reids own imagination or if kate really did visit him from beyond the grace. i like 2 let readers come up with their own conclusion lol. but i could not have ended this story on a better date. the season finale is tomorrow, its already may which is where the story ends, and i know u guys have been waiting forever. so with love and until next time my friends. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo_

_Angel Anastasia xox_


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